Nonary Game: Resonance
by LeonPianta
Summary: Robin awakens in a large high school-like building alongside eight others, who have been selected as participants in the Nonary Game. As they progress through the building and seek a way out, though, it seems that their decisions will affect more lives than just their own. This game they're playing has important implications for the future - and the past. M for language & violence.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Hello everyone, and welcome to my newest story! This one's actually been in the works for over a year at this point, and I've finally decided it's about time I begin posting it to FF. As of today, 2nd February 2017, I have written about 11 chapters of content for this 999 fanfic, and I can't wait to keep writing more to deliver. For the record, this will read much like the game, in which chapters may end with a choice our main character has to make. However, this is NOT a choose your own adventure; I will be deciding exactly where he goes and when. After we reach one ending, I'll have our main character go back and choose different things to see if he can help figure out the mystery of this story. In any case, I hope you enjoy it.

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Nonary Game: Resonance

* * *

Robin found himself slipping awake, a strange feeling fogging his head. Not yet ready to leave his sleeping state, he kept his eyes shut and shifted. Or, he tried to shift, but he found himself unable to move his body. _What the hell?_ He felt his breathing start to hasten as he mentally strained against the weight of his arms, not feeling them move at all. Indeed, he couldn't even bring himself to open his eyes.

After a few seconds of struggling, he finally felt himself fighting off the foggy feeling, and his body jerked. With a gasp, he finally opened his eyes, then realizing he'd been sleeping on his back. "Sleep paralysis…" he mumbled to himself, inhaling deeply. He made it a point to never sleep on his back because of it, but something had happened that night…

It was then that he realized he was not staring up at his own ceiling but rather a strange-looking one, lined with cheap white tiles and beige bars. The tiles themselves were normal, but those along the walls, he noticed, were labeled with a single red number or letter. Reflexively, he threw his hands to the surface he was lying on, feeling its slight squish. Thus, he could tell there was still a mattress beneath him. However, the room he was in seemed not one for such accommodation. As he rolled over, he found his eyes resting on the metal legs of a standard classroom desk.

With a sudden jolt of energy, Robin leapt to his feet, not giving himself the time to move slowly or rationally. As such, he ended up jumping on the mattress. He would have considered himself an odd sight, had he not been powered by adrenaline in light of his strange situation. The room around him was indeed an unassuming classroom, of size that was rather standard fare for something like a high school. "What the bloody hell…"

A few feet past the foot of his mattress, he saw a simple door, presumably leading out into the hallway. Not wasting any time, he rushed over to it, grabbing the handle. Shaking it told him he was locked inside, and he gazed at the door in depressed frustration. It was only then that he noticed something strange; his wrist was now encased in a somewhat bulky watch. The first thing to catch his eye was the golden color of the casing, trimmed with a black as true as the midnight sky. The face of the watch was also unusual, the surface seeming completely black as well, save for the illumination, which lit up only a single digit. "[8]..." Robin muttered to himself, reading the cold cyan number before him. After a few seconds, he inverted his arm, seeking to remove the device.

When met with the sight of a solid band, he paused, again in surprise. A quick rub-down of the watch revealed no clasps were hidden on it, and thus, the watch would be remaining with him for a while. At a loss for how next to proceed, he quickly turned around to scan the room, his eyes landing almost immediately on a second door, on the wall opposite the first. It looked like it had been basically identical to the first, but it had been painted over with a giant number. _Another 8,_ he thought, again rubbing the watch in discomfort. The number was in red, rather bright in relation to the bland door but just dark enough to make him over-aware of the blood that he could hear pulsing behind his ears.

He rushed to the door with the same hope for immediate freedom, but for the first time since awakening in the room he hesitated. Beside the door was a device that he was sure had to be a card reader. It was fairly large, though, with what looked like a small door to the left of the part where the card would be swiped. On the right side of the device was a smooth lever, meeting the device right below a small light. Its vibrant red was clearly indicating the device was in a locked state, but he pulled the lever anyway, since he had no better options. He was met with two harsh beeps, which affirmed his suspicion. _Looks like I'll be looking for some kind of card then,_ he thought, his mind somehow having regripped logic in spite of the shakiness that continued to course through his body.

(Suggested listening: Trash Disposal Room)

A slew of wooden desks were arrayed around the room, so Robin decided to open those closest to him to see if the key might have been left inside. The search was fruitless, which he figured he should have expected. Since he lacked a better plan, though, he jogged over to the next row of desks, opening them quickly.

His search of the second row was marginally more successful. He found himself in possession of two curious items - a purple dry-erase marker that was surprisingly heavy and a small, white tile that was roughly two inches square. The smooth tile was emblazoned with a red number 5, rather reminiscent of the ceiling. Again, he looked up, scanning the sides to read the letters and numbers. It seemed that they progressed to form a sort of coordinate system, with all of the tiles on the door side reading 0 to 9 and all the tiles perpendicular reading A to S. Alas, with no further information, he gripped the marker and tile and made for the next row.

Only one desk in the row had anything, another dense marker. _What is with these markers?_ he thought, placing the other objects in his pocket as he moved to open the red marker in his hands. The cap remained firmly on, leading Robin to think it was possibly not even a real marker at all. _It must have been made specially for this… puzzle…_ Yes, that was definitely the word for what he was in. As he began opening desks in the fourth row, he was reminded of those escape-the-room games he'd played in his preteen years. _Except I'm stuck in this one,_ he thought, smirking.

Having no luck, he changed course, moving over to the teacher's desk at the end of the row. There were two larger side doors, both of which opened easily. One was unfortunately empty, but another had two more of the supposed dry-erase markers in it. "Green and orange…" he mumbled to himself, using the sound of his voice to bring something familiar back into his situation. In that moment, he gripped the markers tightly, whispering to himself again. "I'm still here… and I'm okay." It wasn't much, but for the time being, it would have to be enough.

The top drawer of the desk had a small lock in the center, which Robin assumed was engaged. A quick tug on the bottom proved him correct, and he sighed. The room was large enough to hide a key rather easily, so how the hell was he supposed to find one? He realized then that he'd missed a row of desks, and he grunted at himself in slight frustration. _How did I forget that?_ he thought, knocking lightly on his head as though to clear it. It was still a bit foggy from his strange situation, but he wasn't sure why…

Until he opened the next closest desk. A sheet of mirror was fixed in the bottom, and for the first time, he was able to see his face. His eyes were baggy, and the circles around them were noticeable. His skin looked paler than usual, and he couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten. _I wonder how long I was asleep…_ A flash of black in the back of his mind brought back his last memory before the day.

 _He had just gotten home from the bar with a few of his friends. He hadn't even been drinking that night, since he knew he'd have to drive early the next morning to catch a flight._ The realization that he'd most definitely missed the plane frustrated him, but as he figured he had bigger problems to worry about, he continued his recollection. _As he carried in his rucksack, ridiculously heavy with textbooks, he moved to close the door with his foot, unfortunately missing. With a mockingly dejected grunt, he hobbled to the couch, thumping his rucksack atop it. He allowed himself a major stretch before turning around and freezing still._

 _The figure before him was dressed in all black, save for a trim of red around the edges of their jacket. Their large stature was unnerving enough, but the real kicker was the gasmask that rested over their apparently emotionless face. Robin made to speak but could feel only a formless interjection brewing in his throat. It never escaped his lips. "You have been selected for the Nonary Game. Congratulations." The figure's words were brief and chilling, distorted just past the range of sounding human due to the mask. As soon as Robin found himself able to move again, his eyes landed on a white canister on his floor. Gas poured from it, clouding both the air and his vision. In a few seconds, he stumbled to his knees, his eyes fixated on the unmoving figure before him. Terror squeezed at his heart as the gas squeezed at his eyelids._

 _If only I'd closed my fucking door,_ he thought then, fueled by a brief flash of rage. He threw out his leg and kicked the desk, toppling it and removing the mirror from view. After a few more seconds, his anger diminished back into adrenaline, telling him that he had no time to waste with further stupidity. Moving on, he opened the next desk over, taking out the blue marker within it. He continued quickly, finding nothing until the final desk in the room. In the back corner rested a small, silver object - the key he'd been seeking. "Yes!" He snatched it, pacing quickly back to the teacher's desk.

Unlocking it was a definitively smooth process, and as the drawer slid out, he found two simple things resting within it. The first was a folded sheet of paper, which was spread before him in no time. In the center of the sheet was a fairly large 3 by 4 grid of squares, divided into 1 by 2 segments of differing colors. Robin listed them off to himself: "Red, blue, green, yellow, purple, orange." It must have had something to do with the five markers he'd found, implying then that there was a sixth he had yet to find. For the time being, he left the sheet on the teacher's desk, refocusing on the second item.

It was a small, metallic box, with seven magnets placed haphazardly atop it. _It's a tangram puzzle,_ Robin recognized immediately. There was an angular shape printed on the shiny surface in a matte beige, which Robin figured was the desired form of the puzzle pieces. The box seemed to be hinged along the back, so solving the puzzle would presumably unlock it. Taking a chance, however, he tugged on the two sides, just in case it was unlocked. _Go figure,_ he thought, then sliding around the pieces at random.

He then realized how awkward he must have looked in that situation. He had been kidnapped from his home, and here he was, spending an unfortunate amount of time sticking magnets to a box and becoming increasingly aggravated at a puzzle instead of the danger his life was surely in. The thought did manage to send a chill down his spine, however, and he paused for a minute, wondering if there was any chance that there was another paper in the room, perhaps, that revealed the answer to this puzzle as well. His hands kept moving the pieces as his eyes scanned the room, unaware of the futility of haphazard motion.

The first thing he became aware of was a whiteboard along the wall just past the teacher's desk. He hadn't been fully cognizant of it before, considering he had focused on what clues the desk might offer him, but he then noticed a black rectangular shape in the middle of the board. _That must be what the markers go in,_ he figured, remembering its location for when he finally found the sixth.

"Oh!" he called out as he looked back at the puzzle. None of the pieces were quite where they needed to be, but they were then close enough that he could reason the final orientation from there. As the last magnet slid into place, the box clicked, and the top weakly popped up. With a flick of his finger, Robin was able to open it, a bit disappointed that all it contained was another tile, this time numbered 6. _Still looking for one last marker…_ He felt the thump of the items in his pockets as he jogged to the last unexplored corner of the room. There sat a surprisingly large rolling ladder that nearly reached the ceiling. Atop the highest step lied a briefcase, which he carefully retrieved.

The clank of metal below told him he'd somehow dropped something, and as he reached the ground, he spotted something yellow between the bars of the ladder. _The last marker,_ he thought, grasping it quickly. Relieved to have solved that mystery, he turned his attention to the briefcase, his hopes sagging as his eyes landed on a dial combination lock. "Well, that was brief," he mused to himself. "Better take it with me, just in case." Since it wouldn't fit in his pocket, he awkwardly held it in his left hand, giving the watch one last glance before moving back to the marker holder on the whiteboard.

"Red, blue, green, yellow, purple, orange…" he reminded himself, digging the markers awkwardly out of his pocket and shoving them in the holder. There was no indication of any sort that he'd done something correctly, so he frowned and stepped back. _Could the sheet have been mismarked? Er… misprinted?_ He figured he'd be better off making fewer puns and solving more puzzles, so he grabbed the diagram he'd found in the teacher's desk again. Every marker was in its proper position, unless…

He quickly inverted the sheet, then shrugging and deciding to move them all. A minute click affirmed his suspicions, and a small tile fell from within the holder onto the rack below the whiteboard. _Number 4…_ Robin began to wonder how many of these damn things he would have to find before he could get the card key to unlock the door. No longer sure of how to proceed, he spent another several seconds drawing his eyes across the room. A small switch sat beside the whiteboard, which he'd initially assumed simply controlled the lights (which he most assuredly didn't want to be without), but it dawned on him that the back corner of the room was a rather strange place for the switch. Thus, he decided to flip it down and see what fresh hell the room would lay upon him.

The whirring noise of an electronic mechanism caught his attention immediately, and he was somewhat surprised to find a projection screen rolling down automatically over the whiteboard. In the corner, he could already see another one of those numbered tiles duct-taped to the screen, which he snatched off before it could finish unrolling. _That's number 2._ As soon as the screen reached full extension, there was another electronic noise of approval, and the screen was then lit up from the projector. Naturally, Robin had failed to notice the device earlier, and he scratched his head while staring at it for a moment before looking to see what new information he was given.

The largest text on screen caught his eye quickly, revealing a three-digit number. "503," he read, looking back to the briefcase gripped in his hand. With his free right hand, he slid the dials energetically, accidentally flicking the last digit too far. _Good to see the adrenaline hasn't worn down,_ he thought, wryly. With another welcoming click, he found the latch now free to move. Inside was yet another numbered tile, and it briefly occurred to him that he'd forgotten how many he now held. The new one was numbered 3, which he only noted briefly before reading two more characters printed on the interior wall of the case.

"What the hell is P6…" He suddenly recalled he hadn't finished reading the projection, so he thrust the briefcase onto a nearby desk and refocused his attention. Perhaps to keep his mind from drifting off, he read the text aloud to himself. "A digital root, or repeated digital sum, is the number obtained when the digits of a number are added together until only one digit remains, thus being between one and nine. Therefore, calculating a digital root is fairly simple. For example, to find the digital root of 503, sum 5 plus 0 plus 3, which equals 8. Thus, the digital root of 503 is 8. For another example, take 7268. 7 plus 2 plus 6 plus 8 equals 23. 2 plus 3 equals 5. Thus, the digital root of 7268 is 5."

Robin wondered why such a description was given, unless it was simply to frame the number that encoded the briefcase. However, another glance at his wrist pressed his intuition to believe that the concept would be much more important. _The code's digital root matches the number on my watch and the door… Maybe that's a clue?_ In thought, he let his head rock to the side, his line of sight sliding up to the corner of the ceiling.

"P6!" He flinched slightly, preparing to move forward with his discovery, only to be stopped by his realization that he wasn't sure how exactly to proceed. Perhaps the characters meant he was supposed to find something underneath the tile that would be in line with both the tile labeled "P" and that labeled "6"? As unobservant as he'd admit to being, he was rather sure he hadn't missed anything on the floor around the room whatsoever. _Unless they want me to use the ladder to actually check the tile…_ Figuring the device served no additional purpose in a standard classroom, he set about moving it.

"Guess it'd be a pretty damn bland maths class without… whatever this is… going on," he mumbled to himself, becoming moderately unnerved at the difficulty he faced moving the ladder. "Christ, what are these wheels even made of, lead?" With a great deal of overexertion, he finally moved the ladder somewhat close to the proper tile. Indeed, he was met with success when he climbed up and popped the designated thing out of its place. His first prize was symbolic of his stress - the ceiling tile jumped from his shaking hands and crumbled on the floor. "Piece of shit!" he grunted quietly. Alas, in the rubble he found exactly what he'd been seeking. Alongside a smaller tile numbered 7 was an item with a gold that matched the body of the watch that he'd been given. A solid stripe of black along the side identified it as the card key he'd been seeking.

He grabbed the key in the same motion he'd used to descend the ladder, only stopping from leaping to the door so that he might not forget the number 7 tile. It dawned on him that he hadn't found one numbered 8, which would have been exactly what he'd expect out of an item of mysterious future importance. _That's a Chekov's gun, right?_ He couldn't remember where exactly he'd picked up the term, but he had a sinking gut feeling that whatever weirdo had created this puzzle was smart enough to include all kinds of hidden clues Robin wouldn't be able to figure out. Allowing himself only one more grunt of begrudging acceptance, he mentally prepared himself and approached the door.

With a swipe of the gold card key, the lockbox clicked. He'd been expecting a beep, but instead the area to the left of the swipe popped open. Behind it rested three square indentations, clearly perfectly sized to fit the numbered tiles he'd found. _Guess their importance was a lot sooner than expected,_ he thought, fishing them from his pocket. Splayed out in his left hand, they formed a random clump of digits. His eyes first noticed the 6 and 3 beside each other. He instinctively summed them to 9.

" _If you add 9 to any number, it doesn't change the digital root."_ Robin inhaled sharply, immediately disturbed by the voice that had shoved its way into his head. The voice was entirely unfamiliar to him, but at the same time it felt comfortable, like he'd been chatting with his buddies about numbers at the food court. He wasn't so great with mathematics, but somehow the content of the message didn't seem to come as a surprise; he'd found himself lamenting not having an 8 to go with any of the three pairs in his hand that summed to 9. _I guess I'd better make a digital root of 8 with these tiles, then._

After an embarrassing amount of shuffling the tiles around on the desk nearest him, he finally had the combination he desired. "First the 4… Now the 6… And the 7." The moment the third tile was snugly in its indentation, the card reader beeped, the red light being replaced by a more comforting turquoise. His only lament at that point was that he'd have to emotionally prepare himself again for whatever was on the other side of the door. Resting a sweaty palm around the knob of the lever, he mouthed a quick prayer and pulled down.

Two chirping beeps and a louder clunk of metal were its only replies, and Robin shook his head in disbelief. "Making me open the damn thing too," he groaned, no longer possessing the energy to steel himself. "Whatever the fuck's out there, it better be good."

And as he turned and pushed on the handle, his view landed on another pair of eyes. "It's number [8]!" the person called out, and within seconds Robin's field of sight was populated by several others.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Hello everyone! Sorry it's been over two months since posting the first chapter. As of today on 21 April 2017, though, there are 14 completed chapters sitting in my Google Drive. When we left off, Robin had just escaped the classroom he woke up in. Get ready to meet our cast!

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Nonary Game: Resonance

* * *

"What the hell is going on?" Robin asked, nervously wrapping his right hand over the face of his watch. He should have figured there'd be others around, given that he'd been numbered, but he admittedly had not expected to run into anyone immediately after opening his door.

"Beats the shit out of me," said one of the men farther back from Robin. He stood tall with his arms crossed, looking somewhat imposing. His sturdy figure was only thrown off by the thin purple scarf that was tossed repeatedly around his shoulders, contrasting his dark skin quite stylishly. Robin figured from his accent that he must have been from somewhere near the Caribbean, or perhaps northern South America. "I'm hoping once we're all out here that someone will tell us."

"Uh…" Robin glanced around quickly, counting seven people including himself. "How many of us are there supposed to be?"

"Nine, I'd say," said another man, with noticeably orange hair and a focused look under his glasses. He scratched the side of his face then, drawing Robin's attention to the cross of black athletic tape around his bicep. He lowered his arm, looking at the face of his watch, which seemed to be identical to Robin's in every way.

"What makes you say that?" Robin asked.

The man looked ever so slightly amused. "Well, for starters, my watch has a [9] on it," he answered, turning his arm to reveal its face. Robin was caught off-guard by how unnatural the position looked, then wondering if a similar motion on the man's part had required him getting that athletic tape. His face remained calm, however, and after a few seconds he returned his arm to his side. "Not to mention that there are nine classrooms that open into this part of the hallway."

For the first time, Robin let his eyes drift away from the six others and instead examined the area surrounding him. Indeed, it could best be described as a hallway, although he didn't see anything that resembled a window whatsoever. Beside the room that he'd woken up in was a square on the wall, clearly a room number. It read "008." _Fitting,_ he thought. "Looks like this is my new favorite number."

"I know, right?" answered a larger man, offering a sort of chuckle afterwards. "It's on the watch, all over the inside of my room…" He adjusted the hat on his head, a tallish black cap that Robin could only assume was part of the marching band-looking regalia the man was decked out in. He wore a black jacket with a rather fancy trim that matched the rest of his outfit in brick red and gold. His sleeves were pushed back, showing that he too had been given a watch. The gold of the casing didn't quite match the rest of the gold he wore, something that Robin found to be quite tragic.

"So it looks like we're waiting for two more people, eh," Robin mused.

"Yes. Assuming their puzzles were about the same as ours, we should not have to wait too long," another man replied. _Is everyone here male?_ Robin wondered. It was a slight shame to him that his kidnappers seemed to have no interest in women, but he figured there were more pressing issues. This man was wearing a predominantly tan suit that seemed to be some sort of explorer's outfit. Accents of scarlet served him well as focal points and gave him a bit of a more commanding figure, although his bearded face was rather relaxed. His voice had a distinctively European color to it, and Robin figured it was either Spanish or Portuguese.

"Hey, we've got another one!" one of the men who hadn't spoken yet called. Indeed, a door across the way slowly creaked open, and out popped another man, this one definitively more buff than any of the others. His hoodie, which could only have been designed for working out, was completely sleeveless, and Robin thought he could see weightlifting straps around his wrists. _I don't believe he'll be needing those here…_

"What's going on?" the man asked, clearly Italian. The question almost sounded like a casual greeting, but with just enough of an edge of discomfort to remind Robin that this was indeed an unnerving situation to be in.

"We don't know yet," the man with the scarf answered. "There's an intercom speaker on the wall up there, so maybe whoever's trapped us here is gonna tell us."

"What the hell are we waiting for?" The muscular man seemed more confused than angry. "Why don't we see where this hallway goes?"

"No," a man in a blue suit coat with impressive gold decor quickly replied. "I mean, there's still one person missing. Number [3], that is." He folded his arms before him as well, showing that he wasn't far behind the Italian. _Damn, I need to work out more… Or at all…_ Robin lamented.

"It's not like we're gonna leave them behind," another person, wearing a black ballcap and vest, retorted. "The hallway doesn't go far before we hit another door with a number."

"Why would there be another door with a number on it?" the explorer asked. "Which number?"

"I don't know why," the person in the vest replied. "I just saw it when I was running around before anyone else got out here. And it's numbered [5]."

"No way, man," the muscular guy said in disbelief. No longer waiting for further explanation, he jogged ahead and turned down a hall out of sight. Presumably out of curiosity, the explorer and athletic tape guy followed after him.

"They'll be back soon," the vest-wearing person continued, rather self-confidently.

"Hey, are you okay?" The voice came from behind Robin, who spun around to see the man in the blue suit coat talking to someone else, still partially obscured by the door of his room. From what Robin could tell, he was not nearly as at-ease as some of the people who'd been talking recently. Deciding to leave the other man to handle the situation, Robin turned back to the hallway, hearing the slower trods of the three who'd left returning.

"Maybe this would be a good time for whoever the hell put us in here to start explaining," the muscular man grunted.

"I don't hear anything. I doubt we'll have that luxury." The man with the athletic tape smirked, shrugging after several seconds of silence. Not knowing what to say, Robin remained quiet, cupping his elbows in his hands.

Alas, all of a sudden, there came a sound, a sort of fuzzy crinkling. "The intercom!" called out the marching band guy.

"Naturally," the man in the scarf mumbled.

"Hello," came a distorted voice, sending a series of tingles across Robin's back. Without a doubt, that was the voice of the gasmasked individual who'd kidnapped him. "You may have noticed that you are participating in a game. As there are nine of you, I refer to this as the [Nonary Game]. The goal of this game is for you to escape this complex. However, more immediately, your individual goal is to survive."

"What?" the man with athletic tape whispered.

"I do not mean to alarm you, but there are two ways that you may find yourself being killed in the near future. I will inform you of the second later, but the first is that this complex contains several items that may be hidden on the person in order to facilitate murder. It is wise to be cautious of who among your fellow participants you may trust." The voice paused for a moment, met with a surprising level of silence from those in the hallway.

"Ah, but I'm sure your main question is this: "How do I escape from this facility?" Indeed, the path to salvation is hidden behind a door… a door labeled with a [9]. If you can pass through a door labeled [9], you will surely discover your freedom. I will be holding no time limit over your heads, but this facility lacks adequate sustenance to maintain several people for any extended period of time. It is best you be on your way now. Good luck." The crackling sound returned for a second, and then the hallway was cast back into silence.

It hovered about everyone's faces, clouding the air that felt thick and immobile around Robin's head and condensing in his mind. The tingles that had happened upon him hadn't left during the entirety of the kidnapper's speech, and afterwards they had evolved into a shuddering that localized to his shoulder blades. He didn't seem to be alone in his terror. While the others may have been internalizing all of their dread, the last person to come out from his room more clearly showed the anxiety Robin felt creeping at the edges of his vision.

Doing the best he could to ground himself, he made himself focus on the last person's appearance. His blond hair was casually spiked up in the front, and he wore a sort of thin, jade-colored jacket with lapels that ran its entire height, thus leaving it entirely open. Robin figured it was purely aesthetic, but with such a nice green, he couldn't blame him. In any case, he was clearly slipping back into an anxiety attack, assuming that had been the reason the man in the blue suit coat had asked if he was okay earlier. The rest of the participants, as the kidnapper had called them, stood in a loose group nearby, mostly looking to the ground at their feet or mumbling to each other.

"He never did say what the second way we could get killed was," the guy with the purple scarf muttered, finally piercing the wall that preserved the silence.

"Where the hell are we supposed to find a door [9]?" "Why does he think we're gonna murder each other?" "This is fucked up." "What's a [Nonary Game]?" Several voices rose then, spilling all sorts of concerns that carried one major tone - from what everyone had already shared, there was very little understanding.

"Actually…" the jade jacket spoke, presumably for the first time since he'd come out of his room. "I-I found a p-piece of paper. I-in the room I searched. It's… here." He held out a singly-folded page, roughly A4 size, and Robin could see why he hadn't just read it aloud himself. The nearest man to him, the one in the blue suit coat, took it and unfolded it gently, breathing deeply before preparing to read.

"This document contains several instructions for the progression of the [Nonary Game]. While I am only offering this to you, I strongly urge you to share it with the fellow participants you are about to meet, since it is imperative to your own potential escape." He took a short break then to breathe, letting his exhalation hold the group's attention before he continued.

"As you have noticed, I have placed a bracelet about your left wrist with a single digit on it. This [numbered bracelet] serves as your personal key to move forward through the doors that present the major barriers for this game. These doors are known as [numbered doors], for reasons which I hope are obvious to someone as clever as you. The door you find in the room you've awoken in is no such door, but it is certain that you will find your first set in very little time.

"To achieve access into one of these numbered doors, you will have to verify your identity by scanning your left hand on the large panel that can be found beside the door. The machine that houses this panel is called the Recognition Device, or [RED]. However, it is not sufficient for one person to scan into any door and be allowed through. You must not go alone. A group of three to five participants is needed to pass through any numbered door, and they cannot be any random combination. The digital root of the numbers on their bracelets must match the number on the door for it to open."

The man in the blue suit coat took in another deep breath, blowing it out audibly to express his growing exhaustion from reading. Had Robin been feeling friendlier, he may have offered to take over, but he couldn't bring himself to redirect the attention towards himself. Thus, the other man continued soon after. "All players who scanned in at the RED must pass through the numbered door to obey the rules of the game, and they must follow up their entry by scanning in at an analogous device inside the door. This machine is known as the Deactivation Device, or [DEAD]. You may be wondering what this device intends to deactivate, and I suggest you wait to continue reading this document until the passing of an announcement I will be giving once everyone is outside." He stopped then, glancing up to the group and then shrugging.

"The second way that you may die would be from being punished for disobeying the rules of the game. One rule that is vital to understand is that all players who scanned in at the RED must also scan in at the DEAD within 90 seconds of passing through the numbered door. If this rule, or any other rule expressed before, is disobeyed, the punishment will be administered through your bracelet. A signal will lead two needles in the back to emerge, which will inject you with a chemical known as propofol. The first dose will act as an anaesthetic, and, 90 seconds later, a much greater second dose will lead to the failures of certain bodily functions. Its effects are painless but indeed rapidly fatal." The color in his face was drained at this point, and Robin could feel tension solidifying around him like cast metal.

"Passing through the numbered door triggers the 90 second countdown to the injection, and only verification at the DEAD will abort it. Thus, it is wise to be ever mindful of your numbered bracelet. There are two ways one might remove the bracelet. The first is to reduce the wearer's heart rate to zero. The second is to escape this complex. If you use these rules wisely and carefully, you may be able to achieve the second outcome. I wish you the best of luck."

"...Sort of a mood whiplash there at the end," the man with the athletic tape mused.

"He's gotta be fucking with us," the muscular man replied. He reached a finger underneath the band of his bracelet, trying futilely to tug it off.

"You really think that's gonna work?" The marching band guy chided the other man, but Robin could tell he too wished it would. The slight draping of his eyelids around his wavering eyes clearly showed he felt sick to his stomach.

After letting several seconds of silence pass, the man in the purple scarf spoke. "So, the only way we can move forward and get the hell out of here is to go through these numbered doors?"

"Oh, no way," the explorer replied. "Did you hear what he said? Passing through those doors starts the injection!"

"Only if everyone doesn't scan in at the DEAD again," the man in the blue suit coat responded, having only marginally regained his composure.

"This is sickening…" the guy in the jade jacket whispered, crossing his arms.

"Maybe we need to get ourselves off that topic for a bit," the muscular dude said. "We should, like… exchange information."

"Like what?" The vest-wearing person followed with crossed arms as well. "We all got kidnapped for this likely violent game. What more do you need to know?" Their ability to easily say such words made Robin shudder.

"I don't know, maybe your names? So I can talk to you?" the muscular guy snapped back, making to appear larger than before. Alas, the vest refused to be intimidated.

"Or we can try to see what we all have in common," Robin chimed in. "Maybe we could figure out who's doing this to us." Everyone turned to look at him, and he uncomfortably rubbed his shoulder. It hadn't occurred to him until that point that he'd barely gotten a word out since meeting them, and rather like jade jacket, his words seemed to carry some kind of weight. _They're already overestimating me. Pity,_ he thought.

"Oh, what the hell," said the explorer. "Let's see what we can do. Ah, my name is Basilio, and I am from-"

"Hey! Hold it!" the man in the purple scarf interjected. "We should be careful with what we're saying, in case the bastard is watching us, trying to get us to say something."

"You can't be serious," Basilio replied. "What could we be saying that he does not already know?"

"I don't know! But I'm not saying anything I don't have to. He said we could get murdered in here, didn't he? Can't be too trusting." Robin hadn't been worrying about what purple scarf was prophesying, but it seemed the feelings among the others were uncertain.

"Then what are we supposed to call you?" the vest asked.

The man in the purple scarf was silent for a few seconds, clenching his jaw in thought. He glanced down at his wrist as though forgetting his numbered bracelet wasn't actually a legitimate watch. "You can call me Delta."

"Fourth letter of the Greek Alphabet," the man with the athletic tape reasoned.

"Yes," Delta replied. "And my bracelet is number [4]." He fell silent then, true to his word so far.

"Basilio, what's your number?" the vest followed.

"Eh, oh, my bracelet…" He looked down at his wrist as well, as though the earlier trial hadn't burned it into his brain. "Number [2]. I guess I do not need to pick a nickname, then."

"This nickname business is kind of… nonsense, really," jade jacket spoke, exhaling deeply. "I don't think hiding your first name is going to protect you, and…" He frowned then, looking away from everyone's eyes. "...It's making it sort of difficult to trust you."

"I suppose I can live with that," Delta retorted, leading jade jacket to rub one of his eyes in a sort of dejected fashion.

"Right," vest person progressed. "My bracelet number is [7], so I think I'll be going with Lucky. Not super fitting for this situation, but it can kind of be like a middle finger to whoever kidnapped me. Uh, it'd be cool if you called me by "they" pronouns, also."

Jade jacket smirked again, a purely unreadable expression coloring his face. "Anyway, I'm Marcus. I'd still appreciate it if you all used your names as well. And, uh, since it's going to be important, I'm bracelet number [3]." Clearly still rather uncomfortable, he rubbed at the watch around his wrist, offering no further words.

The man with the athletic tape glanced briefly at his wrist as well, then looking back up at the group. "My name's Cody. I do parkour, sort of professionally. But, anyway, I've got number [9]." He showed off the face again, in that unnatural pose he'd shown back when Robin exited his room. _I guess parkour explains that… I wonder what the hell else he does to his poor arms._

The hall dipped into silence again for a few seconds, but it seemed the man in the blue suit coat wasn't discomforted by it. "I'll go. Alright, I'm Ian. I'm a pilot, and a damn good one, I might add. And I've got bracelet number [1]." He started to shrug, expressing that there was little more he needed to say.

The guy in the marching band outfit spoke up next. "My bracelet's number [6], so… You all know dice? Right, well, I'm gonna be Boxcars. Bet you'd never guess what I do, huh?" He gave a light chuckle then, and it became quite clear to Robin that he was distinctively American, most likely New Yorker.

With a deep sigh, the muscular guy looked up from his bracelet as well. "I'm number [5], and my name is Leo. I'm on the weightlifting team." He offered no further indication of what kind of weightlifting team he might have meant, but the lack of sleeves on his hoodie directed Robin to the belief that he was likely telling the truth.

"So, what about you?" Ian asked Robin. In his thoughts on the others, it hadn't even occurred to him to introduce himself as well. He hesitated for a few seconds, trying to come up with a reasonable conclusion.

 _Basilio, Marcus, Cody, Ian, and Leo all gave real names… But Delta, Lucky, and Boxcars all gave nicknames… Would it be better to go for trust by telling them who I am? Or should I protect myself and give a nickname too?_

"I'm…"


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Looks like I've not made everyone wait a month for the next chapter! This one is going up on 11 May 2017, and as of this date, I'm currently working on chapter 16. Sorry I haven't been posting as much; finals have just happened, and you know how that goes. In any case, as we left off, everyone but Robin introduced themselves. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

* * *

Nonary Game: Resonance

* * *

"Still with us?" Ian asked. Robin shook his head quickly, both to refocus on the present before him and cement his decision in his mind.

"I'm…" he started again, then hearing a whisper in his head.

" _Diamond's at the top of the Mohs scale of hardness, at 10. At 9 is corundum, my boy, and then topaz at 8."_ The sentence felt like it had been spoken to him, rather like that he'd experienced in the classroom when reading about digital roots. However, this phrase seemed completely unrelated to anything he was experiencing. _Who could possibly have told me this? And why would they have said it in… that way?_

"Uh, you're number [8], right?" Marcus asked, perhaps feeling the aura of uncertainty that Robin was sure radiated from his entire body.

"...Right," Robin replied, bringing his palm up to his forehead in another attempt to regain traction in the real world. "I'm… just a college student. Nothing fancy or important here. But, uh… you can call me Topaz." Marcus' face fell slightly, as though he was judging Robin for not giving his real name. But he seemed to get over it quickly enough, realizing that there were far more important things to worry about.

"Now that that's out of the way," Lucky started, adjusting their cap, "It's probably about time we head to the numbered door, huh? Might as well try to get through it."

"Don't you think we should wait?" Basilio replied. "We cannot all go through that door!"

"He's right," Cody sighed. "Even if we planned it right, only five of us could make it through."

"There's gotta be another door, right?" Delta asked, scratching absently at his face. "We should see if we can find it."

"In any case, it's not a bad idea to make sure we don't have any other options," Ian affirmed. "Lucky, you only looked one way and found Door [5], right?"

"Yep," Lucky replied, pointing lazily toward the hall they'd gone down to find it. "I haven't been the other way yet."

"Maybe it's about time we check it out, then," Robin mused, raising his eyebrows. "It beats standing around here."

"Hold on, maybe a few of us should stay here just in case. To see if there's anything here that we could have missed," Cody followed.

"And there's another room back there we haven't even looked at," Boxcars added. "We'll see what we can do here."

The nine participants quickly decided how they would split. Robin, Lucky, Delta, Leo, and Ian would be going down the unexplored hallway to see if they could find any unlocked doors or other hints on how to progress further. Basilio and Cody would be staying in the area of the hallway that all the classrooms had opened into, to see if there was anything obvious everyone had missed while being distracted by the alien sensation that had shrouded them since waking up in such a terrible situation. Finally, Boxcars and Marcus would be checking the short hallway in the back corner, where there seemed to be another room.

"Is there anything back that way besides Door [5]?" Robin asked, nodding towards the end of the hall the group wouldn't be checking, or so he thought.

"See for yourself," Lucky answered with a shrug. They stayed at the fork with Leo, allowing Robin to press onward with Ian and Delta. They didn't notice anything too peculiar in the short stretch of hallway before them, but they did notice a bend several meters down.

Ian went ahead and jogged for it, but Robin saw no need to rush, and he instead looked around the hallway. The walls were rather uninteresting, made primarily of beige-painted brick. There seemed to be another classroom near the bend, which Robin approached. To his surprise, the handle didn't even move. He figured it'd be locked, but there must have been more keeping them out of the room. "Maybe they jammed the turning mechanism. It'd make sense, make it harder to burst down the door and keep us out," Delta figured.

"Won't that make it harder for us when we unlock it, though?" Robin asked.

"Oh, I don't know about that," Delta answered, crossing his arms. After seeing the look of confusion on Robin's face, he continued. "I don't think we'll be getting in there. I doubt there'll be anything of any use to us."

"How do you figure?" Robin asked.

Delta put a finger to his chin. "Once we go through the numbered doors, I don't think there's any way we'll be getting back here. Go ahead, take a look." He nodded to something behind Robin, who spun around to see Ian before the door. Indeed, it had been numbered [5], but the large digit was bolder than the number in his classroom, and there was a rather unsettling splatter effect that had been done with the red paint. "If there's a Door [5], and we know from the announcement that there's a Door [9], it makes perfect sense that we'll be running into several more doors later: [1], [2], [3]... They've got to be somewhere that we can't access from here, or else we would have seen more of them by now.

"Here's where I'm starting to theorize, but… I imagine that after going through here, we end up at a new area, with a few more doors, so that we keep progressing and never end up circling back. Someone could get left behind if they're not careful. It's probably something you want to keep in mind," Delta finished.

"Whoa," Robin answered. "Do you think we should tell the others?"

"That…" Delta paused, smirking slightly but with little emotion. "It might not be in our best interest. Perhaps we should be a bit careful about who we're trusting with strategy here. No offense, but I probably shouldn't have told you anything of my theories until we had more definitive proof." He glanced to the side, as though to find a nonliving rest site for his eyes. "We should look at the door more closely." Leading the way to the door, he finally let his crossed arms fall.

"I guess there isn't too much different from a normal door here," Ian mused as the other two joined beside him. "Well, it's double-wide, but that's pretty standard for a door in a school. And I figure you've noticed the other major difference."

"Let's not forget the RED," Robin said, eyeing a spot on the wall just beside the door. A fairly large device with a circular panel rested there, roughly at shoulder-height, paneled in red metal. He approached it casually, pulling down on the lever. The two harsh beeps reminded him of those he'd heard when exploring the classroom he'd woken up in.

"Interesting," Delta said. "I'm assuming that's the scanner. Topaz, would you place your hand on it?"

With a shrug, Robin obediently set his left palm against the panel, his lightly-spread fingers easily fitting in the circle. A single, chirpy beep graced his ears then, and an asterisk lit up on a panel beside the scanner. It looked to be a simple LED panel, which had been blank until scanning Robin. "I guess that means you're verified here," Ian said. "Of course, you're not going through that just yet."

Delta looked at Robin and then Ian for a split second. "No, I suppose not." 1 plus 4 plus 8 equals 13; 1 plus 3 equals 4. "Alright then, let's head back."

"You three having fun?" Leo asked, presumably disapproving of how long it took them to return. "We should head to the other end." From where they stood, it seemed to be basically a reflection of the hall that lead them to Door [5], which Robin figured was to be expected of a school. _Hopefully there isn't too much creative architecture here._ Another implication of the symmetry was that there would likely be a second double-wide door after the bend, an excellent candidate for an additional numbered door.

Still somewhat impatient from standing around before, Leo sped down and around the corner. Without stopping, he spoke. "Yeah. Here's the number [4] door." Those words lead the rest of the crew to pick up their paces, and they awkwardly jogged to catch the tail end of Leo's words. "I guess no one's screwed after all."

Robin scanned around the door, ensuring he could take in every detail. Indeed, the door matched Door [5] in every manner except the number. Lucky placed their hand against the scanner panel, just to be certain of its function. They raised their eyebrows at the sight of the asterisk on the LED screen. "Well, seems in order. Ian, Leo, shall we get going?"

7 plus 1 plus 5 equals 13; 1 plus 3 equals 4.

"...Relax, it was just a joke," Lucky said, holding up their hands in a defensive stance.

"Come on," Ian rallied, "let's get back to the others. Surely by now they've found whatever there is where they looked."

"Or whatever there isn't," Delta followed. Robin was inclined to believe he was correct. He gave Door [4] one last pensive look, then following the others as they paced back.

Before the idea escaped him, though, he slowed himself to check the other doors in the hallway, those belonging to additional classrooms, he figured. The first one he happened upon was rather like the door he and Delta had discussed just a few minutes ago, as was the second. The next door he came to, however…

"A bathroom," Lucky stated.

"Thank God," Leo cheered, briskly entering the men's room. Robin hadn't realized until that point, given the low-key adrenaline that had been flowing around inside of him, but his bladder was indeed under as much stress as the rest of his body. Giving the other three a casual tilt of his head, he ducked in right behind Leo.

While Leo made straight for one of the stalls, Robin's eye was caught by a glint of silver from the farthest sink. He approached it curiously, and it resolved itself into a chain. One end of the chain was affixed to the base of the faucet, reminding him of a bathtub stopper, although why a sink would have a chain holding on to its plug was beyond him. Indeed, the chain did not even stop at the hole, sinking at least another couple of inches down the drain. It seemed to be clean enough, though, so he hooked a finger behind it and rattled it loose.

To his surprise, the free end of the chain looped through a hole in a small key, the kind one might use to get into their home. It was fairly unremarkable, however, excepting an odd symbol on one side.

"What's that?" Leo asked, seeming a bit more relaxed after getting the opportunity to relieve some tension.

"I just found this hanging from the faucet," Robin replied. "Do you have any idea what this symbol is?"

Leo leaned in a bit, his eyebrows curving up as he focused on it. "It kinda looks like a theta, doesn't it? But the line's all the way across the circle here. It's probably something else though, maybe astronomical or alchemical or something." Robin didn't know any astronomical symbols off the top of his head, and he hadn't even been aware of alchemical symbols at all.

"Think one of the others would know?" he asked.

Leo shrugged. "A pilot, a sharpshooter, and a dude whose looks scream 'paranoid fashionista.' Not exactly my idea of nerds, but it can't hurt to ask, I guess."

Thus, the others were summoned in. Ian and Delta entered with no further words, but Lucky stayed stock-still. "Uh, I know precious little about symbology." Robin glanced back at the restroom door, clearly labeled with a male sign, then nodding in an awkward apology.

"This look familiar to either of you?" Leo asked, holding up the key.

"A circle with a line through the center; very specific," Ian mused, quite sarcastically.

"Hey, knock it off. We're trying to figure this shit out, same as you," Leo grunted.

"I have to agree with Ian," Delta sighed. "Unfortunately, this symbol is far too basic to discern meaning from. I bet it's been used hundreds of times over history for all sorts of things. Hell, it could be something exclusive to this game."

"Maybe we could ask the others when we get back," Robin said.

"Dude," Delta interjected. "It's a way long shot to hope anyone can figure out this circle in a line. Why don't we worry about it when we split off to go through the numbered doors." Robin wanted to make it clear he didn't think it was a good idea to keep information from the others, but he doubted that Delta would have any qualms with doing that. Shrugging, Ian and Leo lead the way out of the restroom.

"No luck, I presume," Lucky asked, stretching their arms. The other four let the silence answer them.

"Hey, they're all back," Cody called, leading Basilio to approach.

"It's about time," Basilio said. "Did you find a lot of things? Or were you just relaxing?"

"Like there's a single one of us here who doesn't need to relax," Leo replied, letting only a hint of a frown cross his otherwise neutral face.

"Why don't we start with you all?" Robin asked Cody. "No offense, but it doesn't look like you were too successful."

"Nah, we really weren't. But at least we figured out a couple of interesting things," Cody replied. "Firstly, it looks like all of the doors that go into the classrooms we woke up in are locked again. I guess whoever's moderating this game has decided we're done in there, so there's probably no need to go back and get anything we've left. Not that we had any personal effects on us besides our clothing, but… whatever.

"Second, well… You know how your room had one locked door and one that you unlocked? Well, all the second, locked doors are totally jammed from the outside. You can't even jiggle the handles."

"Yeah, we ran into the same thing," Ian replied. "Looks like we can't get into a damn one of the rooms around here."

"That's probably because our kidnapper wants us to go ahead and go through the numbered door. But, anyway…" Cody continued. "Only one more thing, really. There's not a single natural source of light in this place. Every source is on the ceiling. So I'm thinking we're at least a bit underground here."

"Do you think this school could be entirely underground? Isn't that kind of weird?" Robin asked.

"Nah, I doubt that," Cody replied. "It's more likely we're just in the basement, or the school's built into a hillside, or something along those lines. Although, I guess without being able to see anything like a staircase around here there's no way to be sure."

Basilio contributed no additional information, and Robin highly doubted that he and Cody were keeping anything from the rest of them, so he slowly nodded. "I guess we should ask Boxcars to see what he found."

"Did you have any luck with that additional room back here?" Ian asked Boxcars as he approached.

"Well, for starters, there's actually two rooms back here. One looks like it's just a bit smaller than a normal classroom, but Lord knows what's in it. It's locked." Boxcars shrugged, then clearing his throat.

"Let me guess," Robin chimed, "the handle's totally jammed?"

"Uh, no? What do you mean?" Boxcars stepped aside and jiggled the handle easily enough. Alas, pulling on it was fruitless.

"That's weird," Ian agreed. "All of the random doors we passed by on the way to the numbered doors were stuck. Like, we couldn't even move the handle at all."

"Huh. Well, I don't think these handles are moving all the way either. If they were, the little bar thing would recede all the way, and we could open the door. So it's probably just locked," Boxcars continued.

"I'm guessing you didn't find anything like a key, then?" Robin asked.

"Not at all," Boxcars groaned. "Anyway, you're forgetting about the other room. Well, it's not too much of a room, per se."

"It's sort of a supply closet," Marcus continued. "Like what you'd expect to be filled with stuff a custodian would probably use to keep the school fixed up. The thing is, there isn't any of that stuff… exactly."

"Exactly?" Leo asked.

"There are quite a number of bottles and boxes that look like they'd hold cleaning solutions or something. But none of them are full. Most of them are completely empty, actually," Marcus followed.

"Was there anything else on the shelves or somewhere that stood out?" Ian asked.

"Not a damn thing," Boxcars replied, crossing his arms.

"Wait." Robin weakly held up a hand in thought. "You said only most of them are empty, right? So I'm assuming some of them have at least something in them?" Marcus' eyes widened slightly, but he nodded, allowing Robin to continue. "Maybe we should see which ones they are, in case there's some kind of hidden information or something."

"Okay, doesn't that seem a bit ridiculous?" Leo chided. "It's probably just random stuff, dude."

"The worst that could happen is we waste a couple of minutes," Delta shrugged. Robin was a bit surprised he hadn't spoken until that point, but he figured it unwise to question someone who had just shown support for his idea.

"Ah, what the hell," Boxcars agreed. Thus, he and Marcus sorted through the containers in the closet. They handed the few items that were not empty to the other participants, who sort of awkwardly gripped them in silence. "Yeah, I think that's it." All told, there were two boxes and an opaque bottle, which Robin was holding. He examined it closely, wondering why anyone would paint what he figured was glass so that its contents could not be seen.

"Does anyone have any idea what this stuff is?" Leo asked, gazing with uncertainty into a box of small, white chunks.

"Your box says MgSO4, so magnesium sulfate," Marcus stated.

"...Which is…?" Leo asked.

"Epsom salt. Uh, sort of. I think it might be anhydrous…" Marcus replied. Given the uncomfortable look that came over his face, Leo decided to return the box to the shelf. "Wait, we should see if there's anything stuck in there. It shouldn't be dangerous, so…" Slowly, Marcus began to pour the contents of the box into another, empty one. "Ah," he said softly, reaching into the near-empty box he was still holding. "Look at this," he called, holding up a small key.

"Whoa, that looks familiar," Leo stated. The key looked to be almost identical to the one they'd found in the men's restroom only ten minutes prior.

"Maybe you all should tell us what _you_ found," Boxcars suggested. With a sigh, Robin decided to do so.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: I've actually been able to write more given that it's the summer, and ideas have been coming to me like rain, so I'm gonna try to pick up the update schedule a little bit. As I'm posting chapter four today (23 May 2017), I am currently writing chapter eighteen, so I've got plenty of material to post. At the end of the chapter will be Robin's first "choice," so I wanted to remind everyone that I have already decided which paths Robin will be taking in which order. The writing style is included only as an homage to that of 999. That being said, I hope you enjoy where this chapter goes!

* * *

Nonary Game: Resonance

* * *

"...Same symbol, same size, everything," Robin finished. Thus, Boxcars and Marcus had been told everything the others had found during their earlier search.

"I'm wondering why that one would be chained up to a sink if this one's free," Marcus stated. Robin could only reply with a shrug.

The key seemed to have been passed to Boxcars in the last minute or so, since Robin then saw him holding it up. "Well, someone should hang on to this, I guess. Uh, Topaz, how about you?" Without waiting for a reply, he stuck his hand swiftly forward, looking ready to release the key as soon as Robin's palm found its way below his.

"Eh…" Robin started, finding himself unsure of how to reply. A few of the other participants raised their eyebrows but said nothing, so Robin went ahead and accepted the key. "So what could we find that would take two identical keys?"

"Probably some kind of chest," Marcus suggested.

"Or it could be a spare," Delta followed.

Their knowledge on the keys exhausted, they looked into the next box, which Ian was holding. "Oh, Lord," he said the moment he popped the lid open.

"Sulfur?" Basilio snapped, immediately.

"Sulfur!" Lucky cheered as well, their voice full of sarcastic joy. The smell was rather pervasive, and Robin noticed it immediately after Lucky's comment. Admittedly, it was not unbearable, but given the circumstances, it wasn't exactly something anyone had been expecting to deal with.

"Let's just dig through it and see what's inside." Ian sighed, ruffling his left hand inside the box. "Nope, just chunks of this stuff." Without another word, he snapped the box shut again.

"...So, that just leaves Topaz's bottle. Uh, why's it painted?" Cody asked.

"Beats the shit out of me," Leo answered. "Come on, don't keep us waiting." His face seemed rather put-off, as though he would much rather be in any other part of the school than right there. Thus, Robin obediently removed the cap.

"Whoa," he whispered, seeing a metallic shine through the mouth of the bottle. As he tipped the container, the surface deformed, collecting toward one side. "It's mercury."

"What?" Lucky replied, surprised to hear the element was in a random jar in a closet.

"It must not be that much if you did not notice how much it weighs," Basilio accused. Robin's eyes widened in confusion, then looking back to the bottle. _Where the hell did that come from?_

"No, I guess it's not…" he replied, weakly.

Leo took the bottle then, rolling the liquid around and peering attentively inside. "Yeah, it's not really heavy. Look, there's nothing in here but mercury anyway." He tipped the bottle quickly to point it towards Robin, who did not believe for a second that he was given enough time to judge its contents. "Come on, it's probably just here to distract us."

"Are you trying to hide something from us?" Cody suggested, keeping a fairly stoic face. In response, Leo only shook the bottle. The odd sound of dense liquid splashing against the glass was all that could be heard, so he seemed satisfied. "Alright, no need to snap at me."

"I'm kind of on edge here, dude. Is that alright with you? Can I be pissed off for five damn minutes that we've been kidnapped?" Leo hadn't been nearly this upset earlier, perhaps because he, like Robin, had still been flush with adrenaline. Now that everyone had gotten a chance to calm their hormones down, it seemed there could finally be an expression of other, quite understandable emotions. In any case, the situation had somehow finally truly set in Leo's mind. Perhaps the presence of a jar of toxic metal had driven home the fact that the entirety of the situation was completely alien.

Whatever the hell this Nonary Game was, it would quite certainly be unexpected and dangerous.

* * *

Everyone decided they needed a bit of time to separate, hoping that being alone briefly could help soothe some of the tension that had just flared up. Robin watched as Leo walked off down the hallway towards Door [5]. _This… game… has only just begun, and Lord knows what kind of shit we're gonna have to go through before we get out of here._ He hoped that Leo would be able to maintain some sort of control over himself, lest he be someone dangerous to be around.

Basilio and Cody were having a casual conversation as well, just out of earshot. They did seem to be keeping it intentionally quiet, but Robin figured it was more likely that they were just trying not to outdo the stunning power of silence that had washed over the hallway. They too meandered away from the others, perhaps going to the little alcove where the supply closet had been. Robin wasn't entirely sure what to make of either of them. Both had quite cautious, questioning tongues, which he figured were defense mechanisms of some sort. He doubted Basilio had too much physical strength, so he'd have to depend on intimidation to keep from being seen as vulnerable. Cody, however, was clearly in excellent shape. It seemed more likely that he had recently decided to distance himself from his emotions, sticking strongly to logic in order to deal with the new challenge before him.

Before Robin could peruse on any of the other participants, Lucky sidled up to him, scratching at their wrist somewhat lackadaisically. "It kinda sucks that this thing isn't a real watch," they said. "It'd be nice to be able to see what time it is."

"Why's that?" Robin asked. As much as he was unused to being detached from that sort of information, he doubted it would be particularly helpful at any point in the near future.

"So I could keep track of how much time we're wasting here," they answered, a slight cocky grin coming over their face. Robin was unsure of how to reply, and he only smirked and raised his eyebrows. "Listen, it's all well and good that everyone wants to work off their stress, or whatever. I'm an understanding person; I get that. But, but, there gets to be a certain point where we're just delaying the inevitable by sitting around and doing nothing."

"And the inevitable is…?"

Lucky's eyes slipped a bit, taking on a slight tinge of condescension. "Doing exactly what our kidnapper wants us to. Playing the Nonary Game, of course."

Robin supposed they had a point, considering there had not even been a single glimmer of hope for any sort of early escape. "Well, I guess we're already playing the Nonary Game now, aren't we?" He glanced down at his watch then, taking in the icy digit before admiring the glint of the ceiling lights off the gold casing. "I mean, we did have those puzzles in the rooms we woke up in. At least… I assume you did too?"

"Yep, that seems to have been a constant. I'm guessing everyone's was about as difficult, since we all poured out quickly. Well, fairly quickly." Lucky nodded a few times, almost as though they were listening to music.

"Eh, could you elaborate a bit?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Lucky replied. "The first person to finish all of their puzzles and leave their room was Delta, which I know because I was the second. Not a minute behind me was Ian, and at that point we were all hyped up on enough adrenaline that we decided we had to use some of that extra energy to run down the hall. Anyway, as you might have expected, we only ended up going one way; I guess we weren't being too observant at the time. That's when we found Door [5]. We didn't bother messing with the RED beside it, since we didn't know what the hell it was, but we tugged at the handles. Of course, that did absolutely nothing."

"So I guess you all ran back to the classrooms?" Robin mused.

"Exactly. When we rounded the corner, we saw Cody looking right at us. He actually seemed pretty chill, compared to the rest of us. He, like, nodded his head in greeting instead of just shouting at us about being confused, or whatever. Anyway, Boxcars was also just coming out of his room. He actually paused in the middle of opening his door, kind of like you did, which was amusing. Uh, not to make fun of you or anything. Shock, I guess. But yeah, after a few seconds he recomposed himself and successfully came outside with the rest of us. I take it you don't need any more details here?" Lucky widened their eyebrows, as though the question was meant to test Robin.

A lot of what Lucky had said could only be described as 'details,' and Robin wondered how much of it was actually useful information. _They could have just said everyone's names in the order they came outside…_ Alas, he feared there was still more for them to say. "That's only five," he finally replied.

The faint hint of condescension returned. "Aw, come on Topaz. Next was Basilio, the only person before you that I didn't mention yet. Then it was you, and you know, Leo and Marcus." Robin smirked then, supposing he could have inferred that if he'd bothered to be astute instead of maybe worrying about being kidnapped. "So, as I was saying earlier, I think everyone's puzzles were probably about the same. Sliding puzzle pieces around, finding hidden card keys, that sort of thing. I was probably awake in that room for maybe fifteen to twenty minutes before I made it out, and it was only perhaps another ten minutes before you and Leo were done.

"In fact, if I may be so forward, there is one thing that bothers me. Marcus was the last one to escape, right? But I get the feeling this sorta... puzzle thing... isn't really tough for him." Lucky paused for a moment, perhaps for dramatic effect. "He seems like a smart enough person, and he didn't seem too confused about any of this digital root stuff. I'm willing to bet he's a lot smarter than he lets on. Which begs the question, why did he take so long to solve all the puzzles? He might be trying to deflect suspicion off of himself."

Robin was trying to take Lucky's words seriously, but he was certain he was now giving them the widest-eyed stare he'd managed since waking up. "You're suspicious… of Marcus? What for? Do you think he's gonna turn around and stab you or something?" He realized how ridiculous his reductio ad absurdum sounded, but he couldn't keep himself from finishing the sentence.

"Not exactly. What I'm saying is… I think he might be the one who kidnapped us."

"What." Robin was no longer certain that he and Lucky were talking about the same anxious, quiet dude he'd met not an hour prior.

"I guess it's too soon to tell, but I'm just… well, suspicious." Lucky's face was rather relaxed, though, making it impossible for Robin to read whether or not they were genuinely concerned or perhaps just putting him through some kind of test.

"I don't see why anyone would kidnap us to participate in some game where we could get killed, and then he would want to throw himself into that as well," Robin followed. _Marcus looks just as scared as anyone, if not more. Could he really have anything to do with this?_ "He probably just… woke up later than the rest of us. Or was having a panic attack or something?"

"...I see," Lucky replied, confusing Robin even further. "In any case, I think you should be careful of him, and everyone else, probably. You seem a trusting and gentle sort; I'd hate to see you get manipulated."

"Still, I really don't think he… wait, I'm gentle?" It seemed there would be no end to the confoundation of the day. "Please, I'm not so easily tricked," Robin defended.

"Uh, sure. Listen, I think we've gotten a little bit carried away from what I was saying earlier. I guess it _is_ pretty easy to find ways to waste time in here." Lucky shook their head. "Anyway, we're going to have to play the Nonary Game here soon."

"Again, I thought we already were," Robin replied. His voice was a bit harsher than he intended, but he was still slightly insulted that Lucky thought he was weak.

"Maybe. But the Nonary Game doesn't really start until we decide how to split up. The whole digital root thing, the numbers on the watches, that's gotta be the Nonary Game. And that doesn't start until we go through the numbered doors." Lucky pumped their eyebrows ever so slightly, just quick enough that Robin wasn't entirely sure he'd seen it. Regardless of if the game had already technically started or not, they were right. There was no way of escaping unless everyone agreed to go ahead through Door [4] and Door [5].

"So… should we gather everyone up, then?" he asked.

"I imagine everyone's had enough time to themselves. It's about time we bucked up and headed out," Lucky replied. With that, they nodded reaffirmingly, then going to round up the other participants.

* * *

"Just to be clear, there isn't any other option?" Cody asked.

"Yes," Lucky replied simply.

"I hate to just go along with what the kidnapper wants us to do," Leo replied. "But I don't have any better ideas, so I guess let's do it."

"Is anyone else vehemently opposed to this?" Lucky asked. Reluctantly, Basilio lifted his hand, albeit silently. "Alright then, you won't be escaping here."

"Excuse me?" Basilio snapped.

"I know it sucks to go along with this, but it's the only way out," Ian agreed.

"If you had been listening to what I'd just said," Lucky mumbled. Basilio narrowed his eyes angrily but offered nothing further than a lowering of his hand. "Good. Now, we're going to have to split up, of course, so we should decide who's going into which door."

"Before we get that, I assume it's possible for all nine of us to go through these two doors?" Cody asked.

"Yes, nothing to worry about there," Marcus replied. "The nine of us all together have a digital root of 9, and then the digital root of these two doors is 9 as well."

"So we just have to find a group of four people with a digital root of 4, and then the other five will have a digital root of 5. Or, vice versa, I guess," Boxcars continued.

"Right. I figure this would work for any two or three doors that have a collective digital root of 9… uh, how should we decide who goes in which door?" Marcus finished.

"I guess we should see if anyone has a preference," Lucky replied. Robin couldn't imagine any logical reason to choose one of the doors over the other, so he said nothing. "In fact, if you may be so kind, I'd like to choose Door [4]."

"Uh, alright," Boxcars answered. "If I can pick next, I want Door [5]." He tried to avoid seeming like he chose it to avoid Lucky, but Boxcars did not seem the type to be indirect.

"I want Door [5] as well," Delta said.

"Really?" Lucky asked. "You're bracelet number [4], aren't you?"

"Yes," Delta replied. "But I get the feeling I'll be seeing enough of this damned number while I'm here. Is there any particular reason you chose Door [4]?"

Lucky said nothing, indicating that there likely wasn't. The area fell silent again, as though the only sort of conversations the group knew how to hold were hostile.

After several seconds, Basilio sighed to recapture everyone's attention. "What the hell, I will choose Door [4] as well."

"Uh, I'm sure at some point here we'll get down to having to assign people to a door to make sure the digital root matches, right?" Robin asked.

"Actually… we're already there. Well, almost," Marcus replied. "Both groups need 4 to match their doors, and there are two ways to get that: either Topaz and Leo or me and Ian."

"So, Topaz, I guess it's your choice how you want the rest of this to go," Boxcars stated.

"Wait, mine?" Robin answered. He had to admit, he was glad to be the one to make the decision on which door he'd be going through, but he was rather expecting Leo or Ian to say something to contradict that choice. "Why me?"

Boxcars shrugged. "You were the next one to speak after Basilio. That's about as fair as anyone else who got their opinions in first."

"I guess I'm alright with that," Ian said, only a slight tone of resignation on his voice.

"Same here," Marcus shrugged.

"Looks like I don't have a choice then," Leo groaned. "Alright, it doesn't really matter at this point."

"Uh, I am also a person who is here," Cody jumped in, a bit concerned at having not yet been mentioned.

"Well, either way, both doors are gonna have four people each," Ian replied. "Your [9] doesn't change the group's digital root, so you could go with whichever group you want."

"Hmm, fair enough." Cody nodded, then adjusting his glasses. "I suppose I'll wait to hear what Topaz picks and then decide from there."

Again the attention was on Robin. Honestly, he wasn't sure it would ever make him feel anything but uneasy to have these eight strangers staring at him. Thus, he did his best to make his decision quickly. He wanted to go through…

(Door [4] with Lucky and Basilio.)

(Door [5] with Boxcars and Delta.)


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: Here we go with the results of Robin's first choice. Already, everyone's fates are set into motion... Now, the update as usual. As of today, 16 June 2017, I've written up to chapter 22. I should honestly start posting these a bit more frequently. Hope you enjoy it!

* * *

Nonary Game: Resonance

* * *

"I think I'll take Door [5]. Leo, is that cool?" Robin asked.

"Like I said, it doesn't really matter to me," Leo answered, though Robin thought he saw a hint of a smile at the fact that he would be going through the door that matched his bracelet. _It was probably just a smirk,_ he thought.

"Great," Boxcars answered, not quite as enthused as his word choice implied. "So, team 5 is gonna be me, Delta, Leo, and Topaz." 6 plus 4 plus 5 plus 8 equals 23; 2 plus 3 equals 5.

"And team 4 is Lucky, Basilio, Marcus, Ian, and me," Cody followed. 7 plus 2 plus 3 plus 1 plus 9 equals 22; 2 plus 2 equals 4. "No offense." Robin didn't think there was any particular reasoning to Cody's choice, but he got the impression the man was a bit cautious, perhaps of Delta. Cody's face was relatively neutral when looking at team 5, but Robin could see a hint of discomfort at someone, and he refused to believe that it could have been directed at him. _He did want to choose after me…_

He must have been thinking on it too hard, since the next thing he noticed was Boxcars' hand on his shoulder. "Come on, no sense wasting any more time on goodbyes. Good luck, you guys."

Team 4 responded with a series of nods and half-hearted waves. "Stay safe," Ian replied, following his cohorts around the corner.

Robin stared at the [5] on the door, which stood taller than any of the people on his team. Its unclean edges and intense coloring really drove the point into his mind that it didn't belong. The RED also looked out of place, even as the four put their hands up to the scanner panel on its face. Four neutral beeps and four asterisks lit the air, and Leo wrapped a hand around the lever.

"Are you all ready?" he asked. Calm as they seemed, not a one was wearing any sort of smile. Indeed, Robin himself became immediately aware that within two minutes, they could all be poisoned.

"As ready as ever," Boxcars sighed. With no further prompting, Leo pulled the lever down. Two quick beeps, much like those Robin heard when unlocking his classroom, gave way to the creaking of Door [5] as it opened away from them.

"Let's move," Delta called, jogging right past the others. Nodding to themselves, they immediately followed.

Robin hung back slightly, counting to himself the seconds that had passed since the opening of the door. After nine of them, the door closed behind them, and another beeping started. They looked to their bracelets, then seeing their once-cyan digits had turned red. "The watch is beeping. The door shutting must have started the timer," Boxcars observed.

"We have 90 seconds. Come on!" Delta wasted zero time; Robin was surprised to already find him halfway down the remainder of the hall.

"It took nine seconds for the door to shut. Think that means we only have 81?" Robin mused.

"I don't plan to find out." Leo shook his head once, as if to drive the event of their failure farther from possibility.

"It's down here, at the corner!" Delta called back. He slapped the panel cleanly, then stepping well out of the way. Boxcars and Leo were not far behind him, and they also were quite forceful with their scanning. Robin was the last to reach the DEAD, not even bothering to remove his left hand before throwing down the lever.

The beeping dissipated, sending the hall into a relative silence. It was only then that Robin noticed the thumping of blood within his ears, keeping the aura of trepidation alive even past the immediate danger of death. The others stood by as well, offering themselves several seconds to cool back down before moving forward.

"We should check if any of the rooms we passed on the way here are open," Boxcars suggested. He and Leo took opposite sides of the hall and began to work their way back towards Door [5], checking every handle for motion. Likewise, Delta headed for a door in the same corner as the DEAD.

Alas, not a single one was unlocked. "It's just like those doors out there; we can't even turn the knob." Leo scratched at his pectoral then, reaching slightly into the hole in his hoodie where a sleeve might have once been. Delta gave him an indecipherable look before turning back to the DEAD.

"I guess we had better keep going down the hallway, then," he said, not even glancing toward the walls to check for doors. Indeed, there didn't seem to be any; the group must have been approaching a decently large room. Solid white braced them on either side as they neared a strange barrier.

"This doesn't look like it belongs here," Robin said, casually. A grey wall crossed the width of the hall, capping off the accessible area. He knocked on it twice, producing a metallic sound. Robin noticed it didn't seem to be one solid unit, so he wondered if it was a strange sort of unopenable door. "We won't be moving this one, it seems."

"Then we'll have to head in there," Boxcars followed, directing his attention to the right side of the hall. Set back in a small alcove were two doors, spaced a few feet apart. On the walls to the outer side of each sat a sign, designating the rooms behind them. If the signs were to be believed, the left door lead to the women's locker room, while the right lead to the men's locker room. "Assuming they're unlocked, that is."

"What if they aren't?" Leo asked.

Boxcars shrugged. "Then we're fucked." Offering no further ideas, he walked over to the doors. "Can't say I'm crazy about the idea of heading into another women's locker room, so…" Continuing to be an enigma, he took hold of the knob to the men's locker room, paused for a second, and then opened it. "Now we're talkin'."

"We should at least check if they both work…" Robin smirked.

"Come on, dude; don't make it weird." Boxcars' words fell on deaf ears, as Robin had already approached the door and began to turn the knob. Much like the other door, it offered no resistance.

"Interesting," Robin commented.

"It's probably not a good idea to split up. Let's just all head into one and see what we can find." Leo sighed once. "It better not be any more damn number puzzles." Without waiting for any potential retort from Robin, the other three traipsed inside the men's locker room.

They bypassed a simple door, which was labeled "Storage," and headed to the next one, which had a large window beside it. "Must be the coach's office," Leo said, gripping the handle. "Oh, it's locked, though. Hopefully we don't need anything inside it." Robin was quite sure it wouldn't be that simple, but the group continued walking to the back of the room.

They passed through another single door, into a small corridor which housed a stairwell on the right side. "Ohp, it's gated shut. Guess we're not going up there," Boxcars remarked. On the other side of the area was a door leading into an equally small room, clearly the equivalent corridor for the women's locker room. However, instead of having a staircase of its own, it had another door, this one without a window. Leo pushed on the bar, but it refused to move.

"There, there's a card reader on the side," Delta said, pointing awkwardly past Leo's comparatively large frame. "You must be out of luck," he mumbled.

"We'd better search these locker rooms and see if we can find that key card," Boxcars stated.

"That means more puzzles, huh?" Robin asked.

"Damn it!" Leo called out, perhaps slightly histrionic.

"Anyway, I figure Topaz and I can take the men's, and you two can check the women's. Sound good?" Boxcars asked.

"Works for me," Robin replied. After an exchange of a few nods, he and Boxcars headed back into the first room they visited.

(Suggested listening: Senary Game)

"Anything grab your attention?" Robin mused.

"Well… there's a lot of lockers. I guess that's to be expected." Boxcars raised his eyebrows once, taking in the sight. "Most of them seem to be those small square ones that students use to store their gym clothes throughout the week, and they're stacked six high. There are a few rows of double-high ones, though, like you'd put all your stuff in if you had gym class." Robin hardly needed the detailed explanation, but if Boxcars thought it was worth saying, perhaps it could be useful to the investigation. He briefly wondered if Boxcars had to solve the same kind of puzzle to get out of his classroom, but he figured it didn't matter at this point.

"There are no dial locks, though," Robin followed, walking up to the nearest column. "They all have this nine-letter keypad." He randomly tapped a few of the letters on one of the locks. "Well, it takes four letters." After the fourth had been entered, the letters, on a small LCD screen above the keypad, flashed red before disappearing. "There's probably no use in trying out any random combinations, especially with this many lockers. Do you see a largest number?" He briefly noted that the locker he'd randomly chosen had a small metal plate printed with the number 252.

"I'm seeing some 300's over here, but that's hardly enough for an entire school full of people," Boxcars answered. "I'm bettin' we only have to open one or two, so maybe we should look around for more clues before getting back to them." He rounded a corner, presumably to enter another row of lockers. "Oh, look at this." His voice wasn't excited enough to tell Robin that he'd found a major clue, but it must have been a clue nonetheless, so the man jogged to catch up.

"It's just a cinch rucksack, huh," Robin observed. "I guess that's fitting for a locker room, but I can't imagine a student just left it here."

"There's probably not a thing in this room that's not a part of the game's puzzle. Not a thing in this school, even." Boxcars pulled open the top of the bag and removed the items contained within it. "First thing we have is… just a notebook." He held it up briefly in his left hand, displaying it to Robin. The notebook was a simple spiral bound one, with a mechanical pencil stuck in the coil. "It's blank, though. I guess we could always use this to write stuff down if we need to. Maybe there's some math we need to do to get one of the codes." Unsure of what to do with the notebook while dealing with the other contents, he handed it to Robin. "You think you could take the reins on writing down anything important we might need?"

With a shrug and a nod, Robin agreed. "Seems simple enough. But that probably means there's a lot of information to remember. Or, to not remember, I guess."

Boxcars seemed unfazed by the statement and continued. "Next we have… a board thing. It's got drawings of the sun and all the planets on it, and a lot of buttons along the bottom." He flipped it over then, running a free finger over the screwed-on latch that held in the batteries. "Oh, I guess it's one of those learning things you get for kids who are into astronomy. I'm… really not sure what to call it."

"Does it work?"

Boxcars pushed a finger to the button in the bottom left corner, displaying a power symbol. "Guess so," he answered as it played a short, psychedelic tune.

"Welcome to your journey into our solar system. To begin, press on any planet to learn whatever you desire." The board's voice was a bit gravelly, most likely a recording that had been processed a bit too much to ensure the simple system could play it. Boxcars kept his finger hovering over the board, tapping down on it with a soft pap. "Saturn," the board read, playing another few notes. "Press any button to learn about Saturn."

"Alright, I don't know what all these buttons are," Boxcars said, but Robin figured that wasn't the kind of thing that would stop him. Indeed, he reached down and pressed one that was labeled with a ring of small dots.

"Saturn has one of the most complex arrangements of moons in the entire solar system. Currently, it has been confirmed to have at least 63 moons, including its most massive, Titan, which features hydrocarbon lakes and a nitrogen environment. Most of its moons are significantly smaller, circling the planet in eccentric, inclined orbits."

Boxcars' face had settled into a wide-eyed smirk, telling that the board had offered more information on the moons of Saturn than he'd cared to learn. "If all of the planets have that much information for each button, how are we supposed to know what's important?" Robin asked.

"We look for clues, I guess," Boxcars answered, powering off the board and slipping it back into the bag. "Ohp, I almost missed this…" He reached in and pulled out a small slip of paper, handing it to Robin. "Maybe you should write it down, in case there's a lot more where that came from."

"It says: "C: 90 mg," which is hardly enough information to do anything with," Robin smirked. However, he followed the suggestion and copied the characters perfectly. "Wait, now that I'm thinking about it, didn't we maybe see a little note on the desk?" He'd barely glanced at it when walking past initially, but he was then quite sure there was another slip in the coach's office.

"Ah, I don't remember it, but we might as well check." Boxcars lead the way back, tossing the rucksack over his shoulder. Robin couldn't help wondering why he hadn't just kept the notebook in there too, but perhaps he would have felt useless just standing around and watching Boxcars solve all of the puzzles. "There's a post-it note on the window here," he said, placing a hand on the glass and turning to Robin. "This one says: "A: 900 ug." I guess the "u" is a stand-in for a mu here."

"A mu? Like, the Greek letter?" Robin asked.

"Uh, yeah," Boxcars said. "The "mg" on that C slip must mean milligrams, and a "mu-g" means micrograms." Robin couldn't say he was familiar with the abbreviation, so when Boxcars turned back to the office, he copied down the information, "u" and all.

He took a hold of the handle, pushing down on it to see if it truly was locked. "Ah, no luck." He hadn't had his hopes up, but it was worth a shot. Thus, he followed Boxcars' lead, looking through the large window. "That's an interesting looking poster," he said, pointing to the only colorful infographic they could see.

"I like how it just says "BONES" on the top in all capital letters," Boxcars said, then offering a sound that was a mix of a chuckle and a "huh."

"Let's see what we might learn here…" Robin squinted, finding much of the text too small to comfortably read from across the room, even though it was a fairly short distance. "It looks like there's 27 bones in the hand… 62 in the leg… 206 in the entire body… But I don't think anything else is terribly important."

"Might as well write that down, I guess. It's the only other thing of interest in the office anyway." It seemed Boxcars would have to remind Robin every time there was new information to write it down; Robin wondered if it was his exhaustion that was keeping him from operating at peak performance.

As he scribbled down the numbers, he suggested, "Maybe it's locked so we don't waste any effort looking for stuff that isn't there." It hardly mattered, but Robin would have felt silly just standing there with Boxcars staring at him. "You suppose the storage room we passed is locked too?"

"It's worth a shot," Boxcars concurred. "Honestly, it was kind of stupid of us to bypass it when we got here. Did we really think our captor would let us walk through the whole school and just leave?"

"I'll agree, there's really no rational reason for us to expect to have to solve puzzles, except maybe that that was the first thing we did when we woke up here." Robin took hold of the storage door handle, pausing before turning it. "Honestly, there doesn't even seem to be a real reason for it. What do you think he's getting at, having us solve puzzles and maybe get killed?" Boxcars didn't seem to have an answer for him.

As Robin pulled open the storage room, he became sure that no future door would be passed without being checked again. "It's unlocked, alright," Boxcars said, a bit relieved.

"So it is," Robin replied. "But there's way too many cardboard boxes in here." The room wasn't particularly large, perhaps comparable to the coach's office, but the number of boxes around them was almost oppressive. He took a deep, slow breath then, stepping forward and pushing on them.

"Whoa," Boxcars warned as a few of them toppled. They must have been very light, considering Robin hadn't applied much force. "Well, guess those ones are all empty."

"They probably aren't all empty, though," Robin sighed. "Let's go ahead and feel around; maybe one's heavy or something." As tall as the stacks had been, they at least hadn't been entirely filling the storage room, instead mostly forming a wall near the door. Robin hated to leave them as such a mess, but he had few better ideas.

After several minutes of checking each of the boxes, they determined that almost all of them were empty. Their search, however, had not been in vain; on the back wall, a few symbols were painted in a dark red reminiscent of the numbered door. "There's a circle with a dot, an arrow pointing from it, and it's toward the female symbol. Underneath them, it says "MILLION" in all caps." Boxcars didn't offer any ideas on what it meant, so Robin figured he wasn't very familiar with astronomy.

"It's the symbols for the Sun and Venus, right?" he asked, so as to keep it casual. "I guess it's probably telling us to use that learning board for something."

"Oh, in that case we probably need the distance between them. Uh…" Boxcars fished the device out of the rucksack, turning it back on. "Which of these buttons do you suppose is distance?" he asked, tapping on Venus.

"Probably… this one," Robin answered, tapping a symbol with two circles and a line between them.

"Venus orbits closer to the Sun than Earth, at an average distance of 67 million miles."

"Finally, a short one," Boxcars sighed. "Might as well write that down."

And down in the notebook the number went, written beside the symbols representing the Sun and Venus. He heard the sound of Boxcars turning the board back off and offered a modest chuckle. "We're gonna keep needing that later, I bet, so you probably don't need to keep turning it off."

"And waste the battery? Who do you think I am?" Boxcars scoffed. "Wait, there's something on the floor there." He ducked in the corner then, grabbing a large white sheet of cardstock off the ground. "It's another one of those weird posters, like in the office," he said, inverting it.

"BLOOD," Robin read.

"Comforting, huh," Boxcars replied. "Eh… none of this looks all that important either…"

"Look, a few of these numbers are bigger." Robin pointed to one, then noticing they were written quite oddly.

"It says that there are 10 to the DDDD miles of blood vessels in the body," Boxcars read. "I don't think DDDD is some kind of weird math thing, is it?"

"I doubt it," Robin agreed. "There's two more big ones. That one says that blood cells make up a large portion of the... 3.7x10 to the EEEE cells in the body, and that there 8 main blood types."

"Well, at least one of those sentences makes sense," Boxcars said, offering a slight chuckle. He watched Robin quickly write the information on the first page of the notebook. "What do you think DDDD and EEEE are?"

"Strings of four letters, huh…" Robin mused. "Maybe they're locker codes."

"Too bad we don't know which lockers they go to," Boxcars sighed. "I think we've found pretty much everything in here. Let's head back to the lockers; maybe there's something in that restroom area."

"I… don't remember seeing a bathroom area…" Robin stuttered, bringing his hand to his face upon feeling a sudden flash of heat.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Thanks for your patience during this hiatus; college has been busy as always. As of today (10 April 18), I have completed 25 chapters. I'll try to update more frequently soon to catch this site up a bit.

* * *

Nonary Game: Resonance

* * *

(Current path: 5)

(Suggested listening: Imaginary)

"What do you mean, you don't remember seeing it?" Boxcars asked. When he saw that Robin didn't move his hand away from his face, however, he became a bit more serious. "Hey, Topaz, you feelin' alright?"

Robin wanted to respond, but the wave of heat that encompassed his head had condensed into a throbbing pain, clouding his vision for the few seconds that he kept his eyes open. He could hardly remember a time he'd had such a pounding headache, which seemed to last several minutes.

When he finally eased down to a point where he'd regained his senses, he realized he was lying on one of the benches between two rows of lockers. "Did I… fall over?" he asked, almost too quiet to be heard.

"Not exactly," Boxcars answered. "You managed to walk most of the way over here, but…" He trailed off then, an untranslatable look on his face. "You were down for a solid minute. What exactly was that?"

"It was pretty bad, wasn't it?" Robin's words hardly fit the severity of the headache, but he was hoping it'd be an outlier. He briefly admitted so, then shrugging sadly.

"Anything specific you think could have brought it on?"

Robin smirked then, telling Boxcars that his guess was as good as any. "Maybe I haven't eaten in a while? Who knows how long we were down when our kidnapper gassed us… Could it have been the anaesthetic?"

"I don't think migraines are a side effect of anaesthesia. But… I'm sorry, dude. If you want, we can rest a bit and wait for the others to tell us what they've found."

"No, I think I'll be alright. It's just… let's hurry up and solve this damn puzzle, see if we can get out of here as soon as possible."

Boxcars laughed once. "Amen to that." He grasped Robin's hand then, pulling him back up to a standing position.

(Suggested listening: Senary Game)

"Yeah, no wonder I missed the bathroom; it's not even a real room." There were three stalls, constructed of grey plastic matching the walls of the rest of the locker room. "White and grey, not exactly the most warming color scheme."

"What can ya expect with a school though? Although our captor clearly has enough money that he could have gone for better." Boxcars approached the single sink set against the back wall. After staring into the mirror for a few seconds and rubbing one of his eyes, he glanced down at the sink itself. "There's a little plastic thing in the drain, like one of those things you put your keys in when you go swimming."

Robin peered in as well, the item in the drain reminding him of the key they'd found in the bathroom out in the main hallway. Unfortunately, there was no chain that he could pull to retrieve the capsule. "If it floats, maybe we just need some water." He flipped one of the faucet handles but found it useless. No water came when he turned the other one, either. "We'll probably have to come back to this, then."

"I'm startin' to think that's a trend here. Is there any damn part of this puzzle we can do right now?" Boxcars had stepped to the stalls, inspecting them for any other interesting clues. The first two had been completely ordinary, but as he lifted the toilet seat in the last one, he finally noticed something. "Oh, look, another locker code. At least, if we're right about that. This one says "BBBB," so… yeah."

Thus, the two had exhausted their progress in the men's locker room for the time being. "Here's hoping we find something in that access hall that's helpful," Robin said. Boxcars held up two crossed fingers as they passed through the doorway. As there had been nothing of note when they first entered, there remained nothing in the area. "Well, I guess we should cross over, then; maybe Leo and Delta have found something interesting." Robin opened the door between the access halls and stepped through, but Boxcars followed slowly and only after a few seconds.

"H-hey, check this out," Boxcars stated, looking back at the door. "There's another post-it here, just like the one in the office." He retrieved it, handing it to Robin.

"E: 900 mg," he read. "So we've got A, C, and E, then. You think maybe we're gonna have to get certain amounts of different liquids or something and, eh, do something with them?"

Boxcars threw a hand in the air. "No sense wondering until we have all the information, I guess. Especially in this puzzle. It seems like we're just looking around for a ton of numbers and codes, and only when we have all of them will we actually be able to do anything. Not exactly the most interesting kind of puzzle, in my opinion."

"What kind of puzzle could be, though, in this situation?" Robin asked, rhetorically. He placed a hand on the handle to the women's locker room, and Boxcars' face sank. "Are you coming, mate?" Boxcars didn't answer. He didn't appear to be nervous, or trying to form the right words, or anything of the sort, but rather his gaze told that his mind had slipped away from the present. "Boxcars?"

"Listen, Topaz, I can trust you, right?" The question came as a bit of a surprise, and Robin was quite unsure he could promise someone he'd just met that it was a good idea to trust him, but he nodded. "Let's see, ah… what did you think when Lucky first introduced themself to you?"

"Well… they're kind of outspoken, huh?" Robin wasn't sure where this was going, but he went along for the sake of not making Boxcars uncomfortable. "I guess they make me a little uncomfortable, what with the shooter's jacket and stuff. But I suppose it was pretty cool they shared their pronouns with us."

Boxcars' face relaxed a bit. "Alright, great. That may have been a bit of a… roundabout way for me to test you, sorry about that. But anyway, I just… Like I said back when we found these rooms, I'm not too comfortable with going in the women's locker room." He inhaled slowly, maintaining solid eye contact. "I'm trans, is what I'm getting at. So, basically, when I was in like junior high and had to start changing in locker rooms with women, it was… not the easiest for me. I was one of the only ones who would actually go hide in the stall to change, when all the others would just do it in front of their lockers. They… used to tease me about that. I don't think it ever crossed their minds that I was actually male, or else they probably would have been accepting. It's just, our school was pretty shit about it, so I never told anyone until my last year of high school."

"Oh, I see," Robin said, not sure how he could sound any more comforting. "Well… did your high school let you use the men's lockers, then?"

"Oh, that wasn't something I was even gonna try and fuck with," Boxcars said. "Since it was my last year, I basically just decided I wasn't gonna go to gym class. I had too much else going on: lying around, hanging with friends, being late to class… you know, senior stuff." Robin couldn't say that his experience in the last year of secondary school was anything like that, but he reserved judgement. "Besides, I didn't need a bunch of jocks misgendering and deadnaming me. Teen boys are aggressive as shit, and I wasn't trying to get… you know." Robin, being cis himself, naturally didn't really know, but he did feel a great sadness that Boxcars had been so concerned.

"I'm sorry, I'm not really sure what "deadnaming" is," he interjected.

"Ah, that's fair," Boxcars answered. "It's when, like… if a trans person says that they want to be called, like, James, because they're actually a man, but their parents named him Lauren when he was born. So when James comes out as trans, he also says his name is James, because it is. But if someone were to insist on calling him Lauren, then they're basically saying that they know his identity better than him, and that trans people aren't real." Robin could imagine the jocks he knew several years back behaving equally terribly, so he only nodded.

"Anyway, thanks for being cool. I'll make sure we didn't miss anything back there, so if you figure out which lockers some of those codes go to, lemme know." Before he turned away, he passed the cinch bag to Robin, just in case he needed to look up any more information on the planets.

"Thanks for trusting me," Robin said. With a salute, Boxcars crossed back into the men's room. "Deadnaming, huh." Robin figured that if Boxcars had changed his name when he came out as trans, it would have to be to something he really liked and felt comfortable with. He then began to wonder why he had been one of the participants who'd chosen to take on a nickname at the start of the Nonary Game. _What could he have to hide that our kidnapper doesn't already know…_

Of course, Robin had also chosen to be nicknamed. Alas, he felt as though he could see himself having given his real name instead. He could almost picture Boxcars calling him "Robin" instead of "Topaz" a few minutes ago. He wanted to tell himself that he found nicknames to be much more cool and interesting that normal names, but the truth was, he almost felt compelled by his memory to take on the name. Whatever that voice was in his brain, it surely must have been there for a reason.

"Topaz," Leo greeted. "Are you having a good time out there?"

"Oh, sorry," Robin responded. "I must have zoned out. So, I think we have a few clues on the other side that maybe could help you two over here."

"Any chance you might have the distance between the Sun and Mars?" Leo lead him over to the stalls, set up just beside them. One was open, with its toilet seat up. On the underside were painted symbols much like in the men's storage room.

"As a matter of fact, yes." He reached into the cinch bag, which he noticed now also contained his notebook, and retrieved the device with information on the planets. For the third time, the astral tune lit up the room.

"Can't say I was expecting that," Leo said, scratching at his ear. After a few seconds, Robin played the statement that had been requested. "Hmm, 142 million miles. So I'm guessing the number we need is 142, then. Maybe something to do with locker 142?"

"One of the toilet lids in the men's room had a locker code written on it," Robin said, reading through his notes. "BBBB."

"I'll see if it works." Leo disappeared from view, presumably looking for the proper locker. Robin could make out four quick beeps, followed by silence. "It flashed red. Did we do something wrong?"

"I hope not," Robin sighed. "Maybe that code is for locker 142 in the men's room." That seemed to satisfy Leo, who nodded as he re-approached.

"I also found this note on the bench here," he said, handing a slip to Robin which read "B complex: 27 mg." "Think there's supplements in here?"

Robin wasn't familiar with B complex, but if the muscular man was asking him about supplements, it was likely he was referring to vitamins. The question seemed open-ended, though, so he didn't answer it, instead crossing over to the sink. He found nothing in the drain, but out of curiosity, he turned one of the handles, relieved again to see water. "I wonder if there's some way we can transport this to the men's sink." He pushed the handle back, but water continued to flow. "Oh, damn. It's broken."

"I doubt that," Leo replied. "Do you really think whoever kidnapped us would give us puzzles that we could break?" Robin figured their kidnapper couldn't care less if something bad happened to them, but he figured it was safe to assume nothing preventing them from solving the puzzles would happen. Indeed, after an additional thirty seconds or so, the water slowed to a halt. "There's nothing here, though. Maybe we'll have to look elsewhere."

Robin looked down the rows of lockers, just in case there had been any obvious notes hanging up or something of the like. There was little of interest, excepting a large, red tray sitting on one of the benches. It was the plastic kind that had individual lids for each well, almost as though it were a larger version of a multi-day pill organizer. Six of its seven opaque wells were open, and the seventh was shut. Robin tried to pry it open, but to no avail.

"You'd think they'd be labeled, like, "D, L, M," for the days of the week, but these say "A, B, C, D, E, K." It's definitely got to be referencing vitamins," Leo said. "But we haven't been able to do anything with it."

The women's locker room seemed even less abundant than the men's, but Robin continued his search by moving toward the coach's office. As he expected, it was locked, but his search was not in vain. He could see two very familiar things through its window. The first was another sticky note, this one reading "D: 1800 IU." The second was an infographic on bones. "There are… AAAA bones in the hand, 62 in the leg, and… CCCC in the entire body." As he copied the information in the notebook, he drew lines between the parallels to the infographic in the men's coach's office.

"Seen this before, then?" Delta asked. Robin wasn't sure when the man had approached, but he nodded.

"So the AAAA corresponds to 27, and CCCC is 206."

"Got it," Leo said, heading over to the lockers.

"While he's doing that, you should look in the storage room over here," Delta said. "There's another one of those codes on the back wall, so hopefully you found the number for it in the men's locker room." Opening the door, he pointed at the wall, which had simply been painted "FFFF."

"In our storage room, there was a Sun and Venus sign painted there. So we found the distance between them to be 67 million miles."

"Hey, Leo!" Delta shouted.

"Yes?" Robin could just make out Leo's voice from the main room.

"Locker 67 is FFFF," Delta continued.

"On it." The interaction was quite amusing to Robin, but he focused on the task at hand.

"Is there a poster in here that talks about blood, perchance?" he asked. Delta responded wordlessly, reaching into a nearby box and handing Robin the required poster. "So the 8 main blood types thing is the same, but we have that blood cells are a large portion of 3.7x10 to the 13 cells in body, and there are 10 to the 5 miles of blood vessels. So... the EEEE is 13, and the DDDD is 5," Robin noted, drawing even more lines. "Since the numbers are in this room, and the codes are on the poster in the men's, I think these codes are for men's lockers."

"Alright then," Delta nodded. "Let's see if Leo found anything."

Naturally, he had. Each of the three lockers he'd opened had contained a bottle of vitamins: A, C, and K. "I put each of the bottles in the tray on the bench; maybe that'll unlock them." Robin and Delta observed his work as they headed back to the bathroom area. "Can't say I've ever seen supplements with such low amounts of the vitamin. Like, the C pills only have 45 mg each, but… whatever."

Robin kept the information in mind and headed back to the men's locker room. He briefly described to Boxcars the parallels between the two rooms, then offering him the code to locker 142. He himself took on lockers 5 and 13. He punched in the two strings of letters quickly, earning himself a click as the lockers opened. As expected, he found two bottles of vitamins: D and E, respectively.

"Here ya go," Boxcars said upon his return, handing him a bottle of B complex pills. "Hopefully these get us that key, huh?" As Robin stuck them in the pocket of his jacket, Boxcars' attention moved to the sink. "Dude, look! The sink's full of water now. Did you do something to it?"

"All I did was turn on the women's sink. Maybe this one's connected to it." The capsule that once eluded them now floated to the surface, and Robin grabbed it, wiping it off on his shirt before popping it open. "It's a key. Not the kind we're looking for, unfortunately." Alas, the two took it to the coach's office, since it was the nearest locked door. "Awesome, it's unlocked now."

As they'd assumed earlier, there was little in the coach's office of any interest. The only things they could find, apart from the clues they'd already used to open the lockers, were two items in one of the desk drawers. The first was a slip reading "K: 180 ug," thus making it the last of the vitamin slips to be found. "Now that we know what these are referencing, maybe we have to get a certain dose of each vitamin or something," Boxcars suggested.

Robin held up the other item to the light. It was a small sheet of transparency, at roughly an A5 size. There were black markings on it, but they were hardly decipherable. "What do you suppose this is?"

"Beats me. But that kills it for this locker room, I think." Boxcars lead the march out of the office and towards the access hallways. He paused beside the exit door, offering a casual wave to Robin as he returned to the women's room.

"Alright, let's just put these bottles in here…" He carefully set the three bottles upright in the tray, but the seventh well remained unopenable. "Uh… that's unfortunate."

"You saw those slips, didn't you?" Delta asked. "Hope you're good at math."

"Oh, right. We must need to put certain amounts of each vitamin in here," Robin said. On the bench beside the tray, he set his notebook, open to the information that had been on each slip, alongside all six bottles. "These A pills are 900 ug each, and the slip said we needed 900 ug, so…" He opened the bottle and retrieved a single pill, placing it in the A well before moving on. "The B pills are 27 mg each, and we need 27 mg…" A single B complex pill went in the B well. Continuing, he placed two of the 45 mg C pills, three of the 600 IU D pills, five of the 180 mg E pills, and two of the 90 ug K pills.

"These are like, a tenth of the concentration you'd find in real supplements," Leo said, his voice almost making Robin miss the sound of the seventh well popping open. "These pills are useless, and they're probably just something our kidnapper made up."

"Hmm," Delta said, almost as a laugh. "That reminds me of something."

"Oh yeah?" Leo seemed a bit intrigued. Robin, too, wondered what sort of connection Delta could have made to such a statement. "What's that?"

"It reminds me of delta," Delta answered.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: This must be my fastest turnaround yet. As of 14 April, I've finished 26 chapters. Hope you enjoy this one!

* * *

Nonary Game: Resonance

* * *

(Current path: 5)

(Suggested listening: Riddle and Puzzle)

"It reminds you of… yourself?" Robin asked.

"Well… I may be getting a bit ahead of myself here. As I said before you counted out the vitamins, I hope you like math. Do you?" Delta's question seemed to be directed to both Robin and Leo.

"I can't say I do," Leo answered. "I'm not a fan of these math puzzles. I'm sure I've said this by now."

"Alright, fair enough. Robin, what about you?"

Robin had never really found himself loving math, per se, but he certainly could never bring himself to have the animosity against it that so many of his classmates had shared. He knew many of his American friends lamented the way their public schooling only gave them uninteresting topics and made it seem forced, but he'd had a much more interesting time with the subject. "It's alright, I guess. I mean, it's everywhere, right? You can't exactly go through life without being skilled in it," he finally answered.

Delta offered a hint of a smile. "That's very true. Actually, it's also a great lead in to what I was about to say. Well, the first part, at least. There's a concept that you might have heard of, called numerology. You're familiar?"

"That's… the study of numbers?" Robin asked.

"Not exactly. Numerology is a sort of belief system. Mm, that's not quite right. But... it's essentially in the same vein as astrology. People who practice numerology believe that numbers have kind of an intrinsic influence on the universe, since they're concrete and universal, unlike, perhaps, palm reading, which relies on some random person's interpretation of lines on your hand." Delta's information on the topic was all quite new to Robin, who could hardly believe that such a divination system existed.

"Huh," Robin said. "So, wait, how does someone know which numbers are going to affect their day, or whatever? I get the planets being in certain signs for astrology, but… are there some kind of numbers... floating around?" The question sounded kind of silly, but he honestly found the idea of numerology to be silly itself, so he wasn't too worried.

"They say that each person has a few numbers that are specific to them, called core numbers," Delta continued. "One of them is called the life path number, based on your birth date, which talks about your destiny. Another is an expression number, based off your name. There's also always the influence of your age at the time, or the number of the year, but those are quite a stretch, in my opinion. Our calendar system really is quite arbitrary, and there's no reason your life should change just because you've had a birthday, right?"

Robin glanced at Leo, whose face reflected some feeling between surprise and concern. The way Delta spoke, he was almost starting to think this was something he genuinely believed.

"How do you even get a number out of your name?" Leo asked, his voice not even attempting to hide his skepticism.

However, Delta smiled broadly, quite the opposite of what Robin had been expecting. "That's the best part, at least, in this context. You take each letter and assign it with the number of its position in the alphabet. So, Leo, for you, L-E-O becomes 12-5-15. Then… you take the digital root." Robin could see why this had come to Delta's mind; the Nonary Game clearly featured digital roots strongly. "So, if Leo was your whole name, your expression number would be 5. Fitting, huh? So, supposedly, that would mean you're a free spirit who loves exploration but can be somewhat disorganized."

Leo gave a small smirk then, leading Robin to believe that the description wasn't terribly off the mark. He honestly found himself becoming a little bit impressed, especially when he saw the look of satisfaction on Delta's face. "The life path number is somewhat simpler, of course. You just have to take the digital root of the birth month, day, and year individually, and then again together. There are a few exceptions, though, so it's a bit more interesting than the Nonary Game."

"What are those?" Robin asked. Regardless of the topic, Delta's manner of speaking had made him interested.

"If you were born in November, maybe, that's the 11th month. But 11 is a special number in numerology, one of the three master numbers. So instead of reducing it to 2 before putting it in with the other two numbers, you'd keep it as an 11. Usually that doesn't end up changing the number, though, unless you get lucky and happen to get a sum of another master number." Delta's eyes didn't quite lock onto Robin's as he continued. "Personally, my life path number is 1. Guess that means I'm the best, huh? Star of the show, they say." Robin hadn't really thought of Delta as much of an outspoken sort, at least he hadn't until just a minute ago. Leo continued to look unimpressed, but his mood had little dampening effect on Delta, who soon spoke yet again. "Topaz, if I might ask, when is your birthday?"

Robin wondered if Delta might use that information to judge what kind of person he was supposed to be in his life, but again, he reminded himself, this topic was purely for entertainment and could not harm him. "It's 20th September, 1993."

"Alright. 2 plus 0 is 2, so that's 2 for the day, 9 for the month… 1 plus 9 plus 9 plus 3 is 22, which is a master number, so we don't reduce it." Delta seemed surprised by this, so Robin wondered if it was important. He fell silent for a few seconds, summing the three numbers he'd calculated. As his eyes grew wide, Robin figured there was probably no doubt that Delta, to some level, really did believe in this. "You're a 33," he managed to say, somewhat louder than a whisper. "That's next to impossible to find."

Leo laughed once. "I guess Topaz here is something really special, then?"

Within another second, Delta had quickly regained his composure. "You know, 33 is the highest master number… but 1993 had nine different days that give that life path number, so perhaps you're just very lucky."

"I've been told that a time or two," Robin agreed.

"In any case, I didn't mean to distract you for this long. I guess I can talk longer about fantasy stuff than I thought. We should get back to finding our way out of here," Delta finished, heading back toward the large pill case. Although he'd just said that numerology was fantasy, the ideas he'd shared floated in the back of Robin's mind as he returned to focus.

"A master number, huh…" he whispered.

(Suggested listening: Senary Game)

Robin stepped up beside Leo, who was already reaching into the seventh well of the tray. "It's a key, alright, but I doubt it goes to the exit," Leo said. "Unless this is a really messed-up card."

"Boxcars and I found a similar one in the men's locker room," Robin stated. "This has to go to the coach's office in here."

"Well, lead the way," Delta invited. The three quickly crossed the short distance to the office, and Robin was quite relieved to hear the rotating sounds of the lock's tumblers. "Excellent, this is the last room we haven't checked, then?"

"So then the card key had better be in here, huh," Leo said. The group crossed to the desk, seeing nothing else in particular that stood out. Much like the coach's office in the men's room, only one desk drawer possessed anything. The first was an A5 sheet of paper with some blotchy black patterns on it. They almost seemed to form a letter, but to be sure…

"Aha, a pair," Robin said, placing the transparency atop the sheet. It was simple work to align the empty spaces on the sheet with the blobs on the transparency, thus revealing a rather minimalistic message. "E," he read.

"What could that be a clue for? Did we miss something in here?" Leo asked.

"I… really doubt it," Robin responded, equally confused. "But we might as well hold on to this," he sighed, sticking the sheets in his backpack.

"Just in case…" Leo whispered. "I'm gonna go back and grab that bottle of E vitamins; maybe it's telling us we need them for later." Robin sincerely suspected that wasn't the case, but he lacked any better interpretations, so he allowed Leo this action as he inspected the second item.

"The key card," he said, a breath of relief lighting up his face. "Let's get out of here."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Delta agreed. The two simply held up the key card as they passed Leo, who quickly joined them in the access hall.

Boxcars had been leaning against the back wall, wearing only the slightest hint of worry on his face. "That's the card, huh? Great work, guys." Robin simply nodded and approached the door, swiping the key card in the scanner. The LED on the side, which had just been red, then lit up a nice turquoise color.

"Are you guys ready?" Robin said. He was met with silence, but it felt more eager than tense, so he pressed down on the bar, freeing the group into the next room.

Again, they found themselves in a bleak-looking hallway. Thus, Robin assumed the area they were in was still in the vicinity of the locker room entrances. The hallway ended in a wall only a short ways in front of them, after which it turned left into a longer hallway. Leo and Delta jogged ahead, to see how far they'd be able to go down the hallway, while Boxcars and Robin kept a slower pace, intending to check any doors they passed.

There was only one door, on their right shortly after the bend. "Since it's this close to the locker rooms, it's got to be some kind of workout room," Boxcars mused. "I guess let's see if it's unlocked." As he moved to place his hand on the door handle, the other two returned.

"Well, that didn't take long," Robin mused.

"Yeah," Leo sighed. "We're on the other side of that barricade we saw earlier, and there's a card reader on this side of it, so maybe we really can open it. But there's another door that keeps us from going farther, kind of like a gate thing that we can't open."

"Could you see through it?" Boxcars asked.

"There wasn't much to see. The end of the hall, I guess. It bends again, so there wasn't anything particularly interesting," Leo finished.

"Then it looks like it's this door." With that, Boxcars pulled the handle down, giving way to a room that roughly matched their expectations. "Yeah, it's a gym, all right." The wall they were entering through was lined with racks holding up barbells, and several machines sat on the opposite wall. They circled the room quickly, crossing past a divider that seemed to serve as an extra wall against which to put machines.

At the other end of the room were two doors, one on the side wall and one that must have been attached to a closet. The closet door was unlocked, but the one on the wall was not. "Guess we've got to unlock this one as well," Delta sighed. "Looks like we have to enter a password here." He pointed at a keypad set beside the door, with a red light illuminated beside it. He started typing at random, then hitting the Enter key, thus clearing the screen of the presumably incorrect password. "Twelve letters."

"Alright, let's see what we can find," Boxcars said, and the group got to work.

(Suggested listening: Cabin)

Since they'd already checked the exit door, Robin figured the next best place to look for clues would be the closet. He followed Boxcars inside, a bit surprised to see the room was larger than expected. "I guess it's almost like another little mini coach's office, huh," Boxcars said. "There's nothing on this desk, though."

Robin's focus moved to the back corner of the room, where he saw several unraveled yoga mats stacked atop each other. The top one was white, and he picked it up, revealing a pink one beneath it. He was a bit put off by how stiff it was. "Is this like five mats stuck together?"

"Yeah, it's pretty thick, huh?" Boxcars agreed. "That's gotta be extra protection, to keep your butt from feeling the hard ground through it, or something." The idea was a bit strange to Robin, but he said nothing. "Look, there's an E on the side." Robin turned the edge to face him, and indeed he was met by a cleanly painted E. "Yeah, they've all got letters on them."

Robin set the mat back atop the stack and read the spelled message. "STLITECETRHE?"

"Huh. Or I guess it could be EHRTECETILTS. They've got letters on both sides," Boxcars said, pointing. "We probably have to figure out the right order to stack them."

"So maybe it doesn't matter if we go top to bottom or bottom to top, right, since they'd both give the same two messages."

"I'm sure when we figure out the order, the right message should be obvious." Boxcars moved to the other back corner, where a small box sat atop a larger case. "It's a first aid kit," he noticed, popping it open simply. "Looks like we've got a pair of scissors… a roll of athletic tape… and a bunch of empty bandage wrappers, which I'm willing to bet are useless."

"We might as well take the scissors and tape, though. Maybe we'll have to wrap something up," Robin thought. "What's in that big case?"

Boxcars fiddled with the lid. "Mm, keep wondering, I guess. It's locked. Looks like we need a key." With a smirk, he handed the pair of scissors and the roll of athletic tape to Robin. "I think that's all of interest in here, Topaz. Our captor must have emptied out the place of everything that's not puzzles."

The two stepped outside, rejoining Delta and Leo, who were staring at the ground. "The floor must be completely covered by these foam puzzle pieces," Delta said.

"Yeah, they're to keep the equipment and floor from scratching each other up or breaking if you drop something," Leo followed. "But each one has a marking in the middle. They probably mean we have to pick out certain pieces." He knelt down and dug his fingers around the nearest piece, labeled in the center with a mark like a letter Y. "No, nothing under this one."

"No sense going at it at random, right?" Boxcars asked. "Let's look around for more clues." They circled to the wall to the right of the closet, facing opposite to the wall through which they'd entered the gym. "Like all these machines."

"You wouldn't think a school would have this kind of variety in its workout machines," Leo said. "This is more like what I'd expect from a college campus gym. A small college, I guess. Or a big high school." Robin wasn't terribly familiar with any of the machines, but he figured if someone shouted at him to start using one he wouldn't be at a loss for how to make any of them work. Alas, he refrained from touching them as he followed the others.

"There's a pretty big circular hole in front of this one," Boxcars said, standing a few feet from the third machine in the row. "It's maybe a foot and a half in diameter."

"There's one over here too," Delta replied, standing over by another machine on the wall. "And a third one down there."

"This machine's for doing calf raises," Leo said, pointing to the one Boxcars was standing near. "You rest the pads on your shoulders and then flex your calves on the stand here." Robin made sure to keep on the lookout for any clues that might mention calf raises. "Oh, Delta, that's for bicep curls. You sit there and pull that bar up towards you. And…" He quickly crossed to the machine behind the last circular hole, which stood taller than the others and had a bar sitting in a rack overhead. "You could do a few things with this one, but with that bar, I'd say it's probably set up for lat pulldowns." Leo unracked the bar and sat down then, pulling the bar against the force of the cable it was attached to. "Oh yeah," he said, perhaps a little louder than he'd intended.

"Right," Boxcars followed. "And look, there's a smaller hole here, shaped kinda like a triangle. But it's just kind of out here in the open, huh?" Robin hadn't a clue what sort of object might fill the indentation, so he simply took note of it.

On the side of the divider facing the exit wall was a long rack of dumbbells. "There doesn't seem to be anything up with these free weights," Delta said. "But there's a weirdly tall rack down there at the end." He and Robin approached it, seeing that it was several levels high and housed multiple pairs of different colored dumbbells. "Each weight pair is a different color, and it's on a different level. This is quite the setup."

"These must be for beginners," Robin said. "One pound, two pounds… all the way up to ten pounds, and then there's 12 and 14 pounds." Thus, there were twelve pairs. "Was there twelve of anything else?" he wondered to himself.

"And there's one lonely free weight here," Delta said, reaching for a dumbbell that seemed to have several plates on each side. It was set in a rack of its own on the ground, and it had little switches on it. "Adjustable," Delta commented as he pulled up on it. Alas, the weight refused to move. "Argh. What weight is it set to?"

"The handle says 1, and the next plate out says 2. It looks like that's the only one switched on, so… three pounds?" Robin replied.

"There's no way it's actually three pounds," Delta sighed. "We must have to set this to a certain weight for it to unlock." The other plates were labeled with 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64. "I guess it goes up to 127 pounds. Kind of a lot for a free weight, don't you think?"

The area around the racks was empty, apart from the labeled floor mats, but the two figured they'd gotten all they could from that half of the room, so they walked back toward the wall of machines and crossed over. Leo and Boxcars stood near the corner, standing before a stack of what looked to be box-like, metal stools. "What are these?" Robin asked.

"Plyo boxes," Leo replied. "Usually you jump from the ground on top of one of these and back down again as quickly as you can, to work on speed as well as strength. You gotta be explosive, as my coach would say."

"This biggest one says "LAT 45" on it," Boxcars read, as though the others couldn't see the large, white letters contrasting the black surface plainly. "Leo thinks it's got something to do with the lat pulldown machine."

There appeared to be four other plyo boxes stacked under the first, each one decreasing in size from the prior. "What do the others say?" Robin asked. Leo grabbed the largest one and hoisted it so that the bar around the bottom edge would clear the top of the other boxes, moving it out of the way. Atop the next box was a white pouch of some sort. "It kind of looks like a sad grocery sack."

"It's kinda triangular," Boxcars noticed. "But it's kind of flat and empty looking. I bet we have to fill it up and stick it in that triangular hole back there." He didn't nod in the direction of the hole as he spoke, which Robin found a bit odd, but he moved past it quickly, picking up the pouch. "Uh, Leo?"

"Yo," Leo said, grabbing the now featureless plyo box and sticking it under the largest one as the others focused.

"A blank piece of paper," Boxcars said.

"Well, blank on this side," Robin replied, flipping it over. Indeed, the backside of the paper had four numbers: a yellow 1, a black 2, a cyan 3, and a magenta 4. "We'll probably need this later," he said, sticking the paper in the front cover of his notebook.

The last two plyo boxes were fairly small, so he and Delta had no trouble moving them both out for inspection. On the larger of the two was another message in simple, white lettering, reading "BICEP 10." "That's definitely gotta be for the machines. Topaz, you writing that down?" Boxcars asked.

"Yes, yes, I got it," Robin answered, wondering if Boxcars would ever realize that he knew what he was doing by this point.

"There's nothing on the last one," Delta sighed, slowly lowering his hand to it. But when his hand reached the surface… "Yah!" he shouted, yanking it away.


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: Back at it again at the Nonary Game,

* * *

(Current path: 5)

(Suggested listening: Cabin)

"Delta, what's wrong?" Robin asked, quickly.

"There's… something disgusting on this box…" Delta answered, his face sinking as expected from someone who'd just touched something unfortunate.

"It kinda smells weird," Boxcars agreed. "Like some kinda weird glue. Do you think it spells something?"

"I already told you, I can't read anything in it," Delta replied. "Gross black gunk on a rough black platform. We can't read it." By the look of his face, he wasn't soon going to move past his disgust, but there was nothing Robin could do to help him at the time. Thus, he looked past the boxes and to the shorter wall opposite the divider.

"Why's there this barrier here?" he asked, knocking on the plastic-like wall that stood at about the height of his waist.

"My guess is drainage," Leo said, peering over. "There's little slots in the bottom, and the floor seems to be slightly angled over here. The floor behind this wall is lower than the rest of the room, too. I doubt you could reach the ground if you climbed up on it." As Robin peered over the wall he could dimly see that the bottom of the drainage area was perhaps a foot lower than the rest of the floor, and with the low clearance between the wall and the barrier, he could only fit his arm down.

"But I see something lying there at the bottom," he sighed. "It looks like some kind of ball. And there's a bucket there, also." The bucket's handles were cinched together, keeping them upright and thus much higher off the ground than the ball.

"Well, that "ball" is probably a speed bag, and it's definitely out of reach," Leo replied. "But we might be in more luck with that bucket." He held up a deformed coat hanger, which he said had been hung on the barrier right beside him. "Let's see if I can get the hook around the handles…" Indeed, he could, and as the bucket came up over the barrier, a smile graced his face.

"Nice work," Robin said, moving to pop off the lid. "It's about a quarter of the way full of sand." The sand was noticeably yellower than real beach sand, he noticed. He thought then that he'd very much like to be on a real beach instead of in a Nonary Game, and he wondered if he could make it out of the building alive to make that wish come true.

"You alright, Topaz?" Leo asked. "Your face just got all… sad."

"...Oh, it's nothing," Robin replied. "But hey, we've got the sand now. We can probably fill up that sandbag thing we just found." There was a large opening in one side of the bag, and Robin carefully scooped sand into it until the bag was filled. "Let's take it to the hole…" As he spoke, though, sand began to leak out of the side.

"There's no way it's gonna keep its shape like that," Boxcars said. "Don't you have any way to close up that hole?"

"Right, the athletic tape," Robin said, tapping his palm against his forehead. Swiftly, he resupplied the bag with enough sand to fill its shape, then unrolled a decent stretch of tape over the opening. "Guess that's what we needed the scissors for, too," he mumbled, snipping the roll free from the used portion. Deciding that was probably the last use they'd have for the items, he set them down in the corner and out of the way.

"Alright, let's put that shit in there," Boxcars said, leading the way to the triangular indentation. The sandbag sank in it snugly, and when it was entirely within the hole, they heard a click. The source of the noise was a bench beside them, which apparently had a latch they hadn't noticed. They only saw it then because it had opened, revealing the shape of a five-pointed star that had been drawn inside it.

"What do you think that means?" Robin asked.

"Not sure," Boxcars said with a grunt. "Maybe you should just write that one down for now."

"...I should have figured you'd say that," Robin mumbled.

"Say something, buddy?"

"Not a thing," Robin replied, then whispering, "just like you, basically."

"I may not look it, but I can kick ass five ways, my dude."

"..."

"H-hey, I'll let you off the hook this time," Boxcars finished. "Just…" He circled back over to the plyo boxes then, so Robin headed to the platforms.

"Usually there'd be a barbell on each of these, but this gamemaster has apparently done away with them," Delta noticed. "The majority of them are entirely uninteresting, but two of them have some numbers written on them." He pointed to the two noteworthy platforms. On one was painted an angle symbol and a 5; the other was labeled "1011011." "It's a good thing those ones have the little serifs, or else we couldn't be sure they're read this way." Robin simply nodded, taking down the information in his notebook.

"It looks like these racks are somewhat more interesting," Robin said, crossing over to the nearest one.

"Yeah, they're pretty standard fare for any gym, really," Leo said. "You can adjust the height of these hooks where the bar rests, so you could use this for either benching or squatting at any height."

"Unless you're eight feet tall," Delta said, peering up to the top of the nearest rack.

"Any _reasonable_ height," Leo sighed. "The thing that's kind of weird is these bumpers." He pointed to the side of the rack, which was lined with pegs that held weight plates. "You'd expect to find bumpers over by the platforms, since they're all the same diameter and are softer, so you can use them for cleans and deadlifts and shit. But you wouldn't use them to bench or anything, unless you really didn't have anything else."

Robin did find it odd that all the weight plates were the same diameter. "Hey, what are the weights of those…"

"Bumpers," Leo finished. "You've got 10 pounds, 25 pounds, 35, and 45, it looks like."

"These are about the same diameter as those holes on the other wall," Robin said.

"Oh yeah; what did those clues we found say?" Leo asked.

Robin peered into his notebook. "We've got LAT 45 and BICEP 10. But… we haven't found anything about the other one."

"So I guess we might as well wait to move these bumpers until we find out which weight we need for the calf machine." Giving the weights another few seconds of a wistful glance, he moved down the row of squat racks. "Oh, look at this bar," he said, waving Robin over.

"What's with that little hooked loop part?" Robin asked.

"This is a chin-up bar," Leo answered, stopping cold. After a few seconds, he seemed to remember that this wasn't enough information for someone like Robin, so he continued. "The loop is bent here so that it can hook on top of a doorway. This is usually so you can do chin-ups at home, so I don't know why it'd be in a gym like this with all these squat racks."

"We must need it for this puzzle, then," Robin answered.

"Awesome," Leo said. "I'll hold onto it, then." It seemed to Robin that Leo had spent the entire time they'd been in the gym wanting to work out, so holding a piece of equipment for a prolonged amount of time was probably a sufficiently close backup. Leo ran his thumb over the metal absentmindedly, and Robin couldn't help wondering what the man was thinking.

There seemed to be nothing suspicious with the next rack over, but Robin could see Delta moving for the next one beside it. There was a cylindrical pad around the bar, the type Robin could remember using in gym class to keep the metal from hurting his neck. As Robin approached, Delta removed the pad and inspected it. He must have found nothing, since he tossed it to the wall.

The clue that had been hiding, though, was on the bar, as Robin quickly noticed. In small, white letters, the bar read "101=5." He turned to Delta, asking, "What do you suppose this means?"

"Come on, Topaz," Delta replied with a condescending grin. "Surely you've seen something like this before." The widening of Robin's eyes told Delta to not waste any more time on hints, and he decided to go ahead and explain. "The number 5 is only written with the 5 digit in decimal, or any base that has six or more digits. But if you only have two digits, then…"

(Suggested listening: Riddle and Puzzle)

"Oh, binary!" Robin replied. "So 101 in binary is the same as 5 in decimal."

"Or other bases of at least six," Delta corrected, still offering a nod as a statement that Robin was close enough.

"Six equals three plus three," a voice in Robin's mind whispered. He could barely make it out, and he quickly became quite sure he'd imagined it.

Alas, it had been enough to spark his brain. "Hey, Delta, there's something I wanted to ask you about."

"Go for it," Delta invited.

"Our chat in the locker rooms, about numerology. You just reminded me of it, but…" He cleared his throat once, preparing his words. "You said… After Leo said that the pills were probably made up, you said it reminded you of… yourself?"

"Oh, right. Well, I said it reminded me of delta, but I wasn't talking about myself. I forgot to circle back to that, did I?" Delta started. "Anyway, I can mention it now. Are you perhaps familiar with an English physicist named Paul Dirac?"

Robin had hoped when Delta said "English" that he, an Englishman himself, would be familiar, but he was hardly versed in physics. "I'm sure I've heard the name, but I can't say I know anything about him," he confessed.

Delta nodded, as though this was to be expected of most people. "He did some interesting work in physics, which is what he's most known for, but an extension of one of his ideas into mathematics is named after him. It's called the Dirac delta function."

"Is that part of what inspired you to choose the nickname?" Robin asked.

"Admittedly not," Delta replied. "The function has nothing to do with the number four, at least not more than any other number. You understand what a function is, right? It's a way of outputting a number given any number input, or, equivalently in this case, a plot on a graph of what the outputs look like. The thing about the Dirac delta function is that it's equal to zero almost everywhere."

"Almost everywhere?" The descriptor sounded pretty hand-wavy to Robin, but he figured it was one of those science things that was less vague than it sounded.

Delta responded simply with a nod, inhaling deeply to speak again. "There is only one x value where the function is not equal to zero. When x equals zero, the function is, well, higher. The exact value isn't exactly definable by standard mathematics, but the function is defined in such a way that its integral over the entire number line is one."

"That's the area under the curve, right?" Robin asked. "If there's only one point where it's nonzero, how can its integral be one?"

"You can think of it as being infinitely high, I suppose," Delta answered. "So the entire positive y axis is under the function, and all that infinite length can be boiled down into an area of one. It doesn't really matter; this isn't even a real function."

"What's it used for, then?"

Delta shrugged. "Mostly physics applications. You can use it to represent a point charge or a perfect impulse, even though in real life those kind of things have a very slight yet real size. Of course, mathematicians are interested in it as well. It's kind of funny, when you think about it. It's infinitely tall at one point, so it's also infinitessimally thin. Shows the duality of hyperreal numbers."

"Hyperreal numbers…" Robin repeated. "That's just infinite and infinitesimal stuff, right?"

"Basically," Delta said, waving his hand as if to show that was the limit of his knowledge.

"I see. So that leaves me with two questions," Robin followed. "Firstly, you stopped yourself in the locker rooms from saying this to talk about numerology. How, exactly, does this follow that?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Delta answered. Robin gave him a blank stare, clearly implying that is was not. "Don't overthink it. It's math, Topaz."

"Is… that all?"

"Math relevant to the Nonary Game, I mean. Numerology is relevant to the digital root nonsense, and Dirac is relevant to me. I meant to not make the conversation about me, hence the numerology. Besides, it just… came to my mind."

Delta's explanation was a bit shady, in Robin's opinion, but he didn't see any use pressing the issue further. "...Alright. Second, how did what Leo said remind you of this?"

"Ah, right. That's a bit more interesting. Based on how mathematicians define a function, the delta isn't one, technically."

"What is it?" Leo asked. Apparently, his attention had been drawn when his name was mentioned only a moment ago.

Delta shrugged. "I guess it's just a relation. The thing is, it's impossible for a function that only has a nonzero value at one point to have a nonzero integral. But it's interesting how we still call it a function. It's kind of like how we call jellyfish, well, jellyfish, even though they're not fish." This fact was news to Robin as well, but he didn't want to derail Delta by asking too many tangential questions.

"It's to make it easier, isn't it?" Leo answered. "We all pretend that it's a function because that's a lot less work than saying, "This is a relation," or whatever, because no one knows what the hell it really is. Anyway… there's some things that people just wouldn't get."

"No sense being exact when inexactness is more palatable, right?" Delta laughed.

"It's kinda like how we all picked nicknames, huh," Robin mused. "It's easier to be someone we're not when we're in danger, in case we have to make some choices that are difficult." He hadn't meant to move the conversation in a dark direction, but he almost felt he had to.

"Hey," Leo retorted, almost defensively. "What kind of difficult choices do you think we're gonna be making anyway?"

"You remember what our kidnapper said, don't you?" Delta answered. "There are many things in this game that can kill you. He probably is thinking someone will be taking him up on that offer." The group fell silent then.

"Once this game is over…" Robin started. "Whatever happens, I doubt we'll all be proud of what we did."

"I guess we can count on Leo to be the most pure, huh," Delta said. "I will admit, I have plenty to hide, as I'm sure Topaz here does. But don't think I'm suspicious. If you pay enough attention to my nickname, I'm sure you'll see I'm a person for whom it is very fitting."

Robin had been expecting for Leo to respond with something contrary, but he simply gave an "Mhm." He couldn't tell, but he thought he saw a hint of dejection in Leo's eyes.

(Suggested listening: Cabin)

"Right," Boxcars said, sidling up between Delta and Robin. "You sure are full of trivia. Come on, let's solve some shit."

"After you," Delta responded, holding out his hand in the direction of the closest item, the free weights.

Boxcars' face warmed inexplicably, as though he was proud to see Delta maintaining his assertiveness. "Alright," he answered, rubbing his chin and crossing to the tall rack of colored weights. "Have we found any clues about this yet?"

"Not a one," Robin answered. "At least, unless our kidnapper has some crazy ideas about what a clue is."

"That may be," Boxcars said. "Then what about the adjustable weight? Anyone seen any numbers floating around?"

"Wait," Robin interjected, looking at his notebook. "How many plates are there?"

"Uh, six. And then the handle, of course," Boxcars answered.

Delta and Robin made eye contact as the realization came to him. "It's binary, then. Just like on the bar. 1011011."

"Want to be a little more specific?"

"Oh, sorry, uh… make it so that the attached plates are the 2 pound, the 8, the 16, and the 64," Robin recited, tapping the point of the pencil to the paper with each number.

He heard a series of little clicks and a grumble before finally Boxcars spoke. "Alright, now what?"

Becoming certain nothing had changed around them in the room, Robin replied: "Lift it, I guess."

"...That's 91 pounds. I can only get one hand on the thing."

"Come on," Leo chided, moving to do it for him. "There. Something hiding?" Indeed, where the plates had been resting was a simple message, reading "CALF 25." "That's our third message about the bumpers, then." Leo set the dumbbell back down, just beside the rack.

"Alright, let's get them where they belong," Delta said, retrieving the 25 pound plate. Naturally, Leo made for the 45 pounder, apparently leaving Robin with the lightest.

"Don't forget; yours goes in front of the bicep machine," Boxcars told him.

"...Right." As the one with the notebook, Robin was well aware, but he figured he'd let Boxcars off the hook for that oversight.

Within a minute, all the indentations were finally filled. As soon as the plate Robin placed sank all the way into the floor, the center spot, where the hole was, lit up in a faint red light. In the center of the indent, a small plus sign was illuminated. "Another symbol, huh," he mused. "Better write that one down." He added it beside the star he'd drawn, tapping at them a few times absentmindedly.

"Hey, we're not done with these benches," Leo called, inexplicably already back on the other side of the room. "Come look at this one; it has a mirror sewn into it."

"Fitting that it's all the way across from the wall with the mirror, huh," Boxcars followed. "Maybe it's supposed to reflect something off of it."

"Something from where?" Robin asked.

Leo peered at the surface of the bench, lying perfectly flat. "The ceiling. There's all sorts of words written on it. But they all look backwards if you're looking at this mirror."

"I bet they look forwards if you reflect them off this mirror and onto the one on the wall across the room," Boxcars grinned. "But uh… which level do we set it to?"

"Topaz, remember the platforms? Did they say anything about an angle?" Delta asked.

"I wish you wouldn't say that like that," Robin chided. "I'm not a child. But yeah, there was an angle sign and a 5 on one of the platforms."

"Say no more," Leo answered. Squatting beside the bench, he pulled up on it, clacking it into position five, or so Robin assumed. "Boxcars, can you go to that wall and see what's reflected into it?"

Boxcars angled his head slightly as he glanced at the mirror. "It's pretty small from here, but it looks like it says… SQUARE. That sound right?"

"It's going in the notebook," Robin assured, drawing a simple square beside the plus sign he'd just added. "Alright, so that leaves one last bench. What's so exciting about this one?"

"Nothing that weird, really," Leo sighed. "Just some chalk. The weird thing is that it's in this huge five-gallon bucket."

"Think our kidnapper wants us to write something?" Delta chuckled.

"Maybe if he gave us calcium carbonate. This stuff is magnesium carbonate, though. It doesn't dissolve in water, so it's used on lifters' hands to keep them from sweating and losing grip on the bar." Leo picked up a small rock of it, rubbing it across one hand and then clapping a few times.

"A lot of it seems to have broken down into white powder," Robin noticed. He picked up the lid to the bucket, which had been resting on the bench beside it. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"What? Oh…" Delta answered. "Yes, I'm sure we could use it for that."


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: Thanks for your patience! I've not been writing this as much as I'd like recently, but there still is a sizable amount of work that's been written and is perfectly good for posting.

* * *

Nonary Game: Resonance

* * *

(Current path: 5)

(Suggested listening: Cabin)

Robin carried the bucket lid across the room, with a heaping pile of chalk powder atop it. He sat it carefully down atop the largest plyo box before taking a deep breath. "Alright, which one had the adhesive on it?"

"It's this one," Delta said, pointing from a safe distance. "How could I forget…" His face looked sour in a bit of an over-the-top way, but Robin ignored it, carefully sprinkling a liberal supply of chalk over the top of the box.

"And now it's white," Boxcars answered. "You should tip it to pour off the excess or blow it or something."

"Uh…" Leo started. "You might want to… pat it. Or something. So that we're sure it sticks to the sticky parts."

"I would not recommend that," Delta whispered. Nodding a few times, Robin decided to use the lid to follow Leo's suggestion, then blowing heartily over the surface. Fortunately, it seemed to work, as they were greeted by a somewhat clear word.

"CIRCLE," Leo read aloud.

"Oh!" Robin replied. "These four clues we've found... Star, plus, square, and circle. They've got to be the symbols on the mats back there." He could distinctly recall seeing the circle symbol near the row of benches, so hopefully the others could find the rest.

"I got the star," Leo replied, wasting no time departing the group.

"I think I remember where the plus is," Delta nodded.

"And I've got the circle," Robin assured.

"Cool. I'll find the square then," Boxcars finished. "Let's, ah, follow Leo's lead."

After their search, they had come up with five small clues. Each had found a slip of paper hiding underneath their panel. "Mine says ", 7, 10, 5," but the commas make me think it's incomplete," Leo read.

"Yeah," Boxcars followed. "The square one says ", 1, 3, 9," commas on both sides."

"I think yours goes before mine," Delta answered. "Mine starts with the 9 and then goes 14 and 6, but there's no comma after the 6."

"And this one doesn't start with a comma. "12, 2, 7," so it's before Leo's." Robin took all the slips and slid them beside each other in order. "So we're probably missing another one or two. It's a good thing I've got something else, then."

"What is it?" The item he'd been referring to was the fifth small clue. He held it up then, showing off his somewhat more interesting find. "A small key, huh." Boxcars didn't seem terribly impressed, but he took it and gave it a quick examination. "I think we know where this goes."

Robin followed him back to the closet, finding he'd already opened the small case inside it. "About time, huh? This was the first damn thing we saw."

"...That wasn't really what I was expecting," Robin said as Boxcars pulled out three jump ropes. "Wouldn't you think a locked case would have something a bit more valuable than… this?"

"Hey, it's a small case. You can't really fit much more in there than this anyway. And it's not like there's a lot of petite weight equipment." Boxcars handed Robin the ropes. "But seriously, it's probably something we need for the end of this puzzle. Got any ideas?"

They took the three ropes out to the other two, setting them on the ground between them to bounce ideas around. "Is there anything else we haven't used? Or any part of this room we haven't completed, perhaps?" Delta asked.

"We haven't got that thing out of the drainage yet," Robin answered.

"And we haven't used the chin-up bar," Leo continued. "Maybe we're supposed to rig it up with the ropes to make some kind of basket thing."

"That would explain why there are three of them," Delta nodded. "You can't make a stable scoop with only one or two; it would be able to tip and dump whatever you were carrying."

"Is there anything about triangles you don't know?" Robin asked, a bit impressed.

"My boy, everything about triangles is worth knowing. Why do you think I chose this name?" Delta replied.

"It's embarrassing to know you two." Leo crossed the room immediately after, fixing the jump ropes to three different parts of the chin-up bar and dipping it over the drainage wall. Delta winked at Robin before following.

When the two arrived alongside the others, Boxcars held up the retrieved speed bag and spoke. "There's four buttons on it. I bet we have to press them in a specific order."

With a slight grin, Robin glanced into his notebook. "And I bet that order is yellow, black, cyan, magenta." Boxcars followed suit quickly, giving Robin a raise of eyebrows and a nod of approval as the speed bag popped open. He reached inside and pulled out a sturdy, square card.

"It's got three wavy lines on it," Delta observed. "That must be where our other slip is. Let's see if we can find that panel." He and Leo nodded to each other and headed back across the room to search the floor mats, but Boxcars' stillness kept Robin from moving as well.

Boxcars was staring at the card in his hands, almost as though it were mesmerizing him. His mouth curled slowly as he began to mouth a word to himself, but naturally Robin couldn't identify it. "You alright?" Robin asked.

"Yeah, it's just… All five of the symbols we've found. I think I recognize them all."

"Is… well, who wouldn't? I mean, squares and stuff are ubiquitous," Robin replied.

(Suggested listening: Digital Root)

Boxcars waved his free hand at Robin, dismissively. "Obviously. But that's not what I mean. Like… a circle, a plus sign, three waves, a square, and a five point star. These symbols were all used together in a test."

"What kind of test?" Robin asked.

"The Zener test. Well, I'm not sure that's what it was called, but it uses the Zener cards. That is, there is a deck of cards, and each one has one of those five symbols on it. Actually, this card is remarkably like one of them." Boxcars held up the card for a moment, turning it a bit showingly. "So there are five of each type of card in the deck. The person running the test draws a card and looks at it." Demonstrating, Boxcars held the card such that the side with the design faced himself. "Can't see anything, right?"

"Yep," Robin affirmed, although he doubted the point, considering he already knew the symbol it bore.

"That's all the person being tested sees, the back. Anyway, the test is simple enough. You'd have to guess what symbol is on the card."

"I'm gonna say… the wavy lines."

Boxcars slowly turned the card around, his face lighting up animatedly. "Shit! You got it." He slapped the card against his other hand, thoughtfully. "Anyway, this test was used in, like, the 1930's to test people for ESP."

"Extrasensory perception, huh?" Robin could see why these tests only took place almost a hundred years prior. "I guess they didn't turn up with any especially interesting results, did they?"

"I wouldn't be so quick to say that," Boxcars countered. "Although, I admit, it's not what you're thinking. You'd expect someone who was completely guessing to get about 20 percent of the cards right, right? Well, I guess at some point they found people were getting better than that, which may have been statistically significant; I don't really know all the details."

Robin found himself remembering the discussion Delta had given earlier, about numerology, and he was beginning to wonder if he was the only one who took no stock in pseudoscience. "So what, ESP is real?"

To his surprise, though, Boxcars began to laugh. "Please, there were so many ways that test's results are untrustable. Cards aren't always opaque, the tester could be signalling the answer to the people taking the test, even a shitty shuffle job could have made the cards nonrandom. Anyway, why should all these random people they tested be able to connect mentally with someone they hadn't even met before?"

For several seconds, Robin scratched the top of his head, now unsure what point Boxcars was trying to make. "I don't think research into ESP was a waste, I guess, since we figured out it wasn't a thing. That's science, huh. Anyway, like I said, two random people shouldn't just be connected to each other. Unless, of course, everyone is connected, but in some kind of way that isn't parapsychologic crap."

"Um…" Robin droned. "What kind of way might that be?"

"Everyone kind of understands the expectations of the society around them, at least for the most part, yeah?" Boxcars asked. "It's that sort of… unwritten knowledge. That information that spreads between people indirectly. Are you familiar with Rupert Sheldrake?"

"Depends, is he friends with Paul Dirac?"

Boxcars' head jerked back a bit, in a look that was confused but not about the entertain Robin's joke. "I'll take that as a no. He's been a cellular biologist, a plant physiologist, and most recently a psychologist. He observed behaviors in plants, I guess, that lead him to come up with a theory he called morphic resonance."

For a moment, Robin could have sworn he'd heard of the concept before, perhaps from his biology teacher several years back. Alas, he couldn't recall what it was. "Go on," he encouraged.

"Right. His idea was that all life, or even all natural things, have some kind of shared memory, something inherent to them from their creation. Like, think about, I don't know… termites. They're all tiny, and their brains aren't exactly geared for deep thought, but they all somehow get together in colonies, build complicated tunnels to live in, and eat my neighbor's house. Or something. Where did they all learn to do this, you think?"

The consideration had never even crossed Robin's mind, as he found termites to be especially uninteresting creatures, but he did spend a decent few seconds thinking up a legitimate answer. "I guess I always thought it was their instinct. As animals, they just know in their brains how to survive and thrive."

"Sure, sure," Boxcars nodded. "But Sheldrake was like, well, where do these instincts come from? You could do all sorts of examinations on termites' cells and never find the gene for "dig a big tunnel." Or, uh, so I assume." He took a few moments to let that tangent die off before speaking again. "And it wasn't just them. He thought, maybe plants have some kind of way that they share processes with each other, since you can look at one species of plant across the world and see it behaving the same way when growing on soil with the same compounds in it. Maybe even molecules themselves have some kind of way of sharing information. Maybe even humans."

"Humans?" Robin interjected. "Are we back to ESP, then?"

"Morphic resonance. Try to keep up, buddy. Anyway, there was also an experiment to test for it. A group of people were tested on their ability to solve a puzzle, and the number of them that were successful was measured. Later, the same puzzle was broadcasted on a television network that was only available to viewers in the United Kingdom. Ah, maybe you even saw it when you were a kid, if you liked the news."

"Maybe, what kind of puzzle?" Robin asked.

"I think it was something to do with a funyarinpa. Don't quote me on that."

Robin smirked. "I don't see how that's an experiment."

"That wasn't the interesting part," Boxcars continued. "Then, they got another group of people to do the puzzle, but they got people from outside the United Kingdom and separate from their first group. So, none of them had seen the puzzle before, and none of them knew the solution from outside. Anyway, the percentage of them that were successful was almost twice as much as from the first group, which is crazy, right?" Robin was a bit impressed, but he wondered where Boxcars of all people could have gotten all of this information from. "Sheldrake ate that shit up. It totally supported his idea that the puzzle had entered some kind of field that was common to all humanity, whether they knew the solution from direct experience or just from, well, the connections between everyone's minds."

"I guess we'd better be careful not to let any dangerous people share information about how to break into banks or anything," Robin replied, whimsically.

Boxcars was silent for several seconds then, and Robin began to wonder if he'd upset the man. "Have you ever been told something you couldn't have known about at all, but you somehow already did?" Robin's face dropped then, as he had, recalling the voice in his head while he was still in Classroom 8. It had told him a clue about digital roots, which he naturally wouldn't have figured out so quickly by himself. Thus, not only had Boxcars hit the nail on the head, but the event was recent enough that Robin couldn't be sure it was a coincidence. "Exactly." Boxcars' face almost had an aura of contentment, as though he'd won a debate. "It's important to keep an open mind, Topaz, especially here. Don't forget that."

With that, he made for the other side of the room, leaving Robin alone to reflect as the others returned to their escape effort.

(Suggested listening: Cabin)

"That was a lot more trouble than I was expecting," Delta sighed, breathing heavily. It seemed that he and Leo had been forced to move one of the squat racks entirely to get at the last panel, but it had been removed. "All for one slip of paper."

"It's more numbers. ", 5, 8, 4, 1," so I guess it's our last one," Leo noted.

Robin added the sequence to what he'd written. "Yep, we've got a full chain of twelve numbers. 12, 2, 7, 10, 5, 8, 4, 1, 3, 9, 14, 6," he recited.

"Hey, those are all the weights of those free weights." Leo moved to them quickly, waving Robin over. "I don't think this will trip anything if we put them in a different order, since this doesn't look like it's connected to anything."

"They're all different colors, though. Topaz, you've got the sequence written down, right? You should copy down the right colors beneath each number," Delta suggested.

"Alright then," Robin replied, scratching away. In about a minute, he was complete. "So it's grey, pink, turquoise, brown, yellow, blue, orange, white, red, purple, black, green. Agreed?" Boxcars leered over his shoulder, checking to see the sequence and comparing the numbers and colors. He patted Robin on the shoulder in affirmation.

"Twelve colors, twelve yoga mats," Boxcars said, pulling the closet door open. "Twelve letters to the password. Delta, Leo, help me out. Robin, hit me with the order."

"Grey, pink, turquoise, br…" He let his words drown off as the others struggled to keep up. _I wonder how many more rooms I'll have to solve with this motley crew,_ he thought.

Soon enough, though, the mats were ordered. "The letter is C," Delta said.

"The letter?" Robin briefly recalled the mysterious letter E he'd found in the locker rooms.

"That's the password," Delta replied. "Or, perhaps, THELETTERISC. Not so appealing as one word, if you ask me."

"Oh. Alright, then." As Leo and Boxcars dashed out to type the password in the door, Robin made sure to write a single letter into the bottom of the page he'd had open.

"Sweet," Leo called. "Let's get out of here." With that, he pulled the door open, and it gave without so much as a creak.

The four found themselves immediately on the other side of the gate that Delta and Leo had described before entering the gym. "Yep, there's a card reader on this side of it. Just like that first door," Delta noticed.

"Did we find another key card in there?" Boxcars asked.

"The only one we have is from the locker rooms," Robin replied, fishing it out of his cinch bag. "It's worth a shot, I guess." His swipe was met with a receptive beep, and the door of the gate slid open, allowing them back into the portion of the hallway they'd just been in. "While we're here, it might be a good idea to open the other one," he said, so that the others wouldn't be confused when he moved back down the hall.

"All that's down there is the numbered door, though," Boxcars countered.

"Why do you think they made it so we could open these doors if there's nothing to go back to?" Leo asked.

"Beats me," Robin replied, swiping the card. The door gave similar results to the last. "So, who votes we go back to the numbered door? Uh, I'll stay out, to keep it fair."

"What the hell; we're in no rush. I say yes," Leo said.

"Like I said, it's the numbered door. There's no way we'd be able to pass through it again, not without starting up that timer. It's a no from me," Boxcars sighed.

"Delta?" Robin asked. He wasn't met with an answer. "Wait, where did he run off to... Delta?" His second call was louder.

"Just a moment." His reply came from the branch of the hallway just beside them, back toward the exit of the locker rooms. Within a few seconds, he returned. "I was just testing something. The exit door we unlocked is still, well, unlocked. The same is true of the entrance to the gym. That means we should be able to go back to any of the rooms we've explored at our leisure."

"Perhaps," Robin said. Anticipating Delta's vote, he lead the charge back down the hall, making for Door [5]. Boxcars' response was, fortunately, only a sigh.

"I don't see anything that looks like a card reader here," Robin said. He pressed his hands on the back of the numbered door, shoving to no avail.

"I'm not getting any response from the DEAD either," Leo added.

"I guess not necessarily _any_ of the rooms we've explored, then," Robin sighed. He remained curious about the key chained up in the bathroom, but it seemed that would be a question for another time. Running a finger over its twin in his pocket, Robin clicked his tongue a few times before admitting defeat to Boxcars and pressing onward.


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: Hope this quick turnaround makes up for the long wait last time. Enjoy!

* * *

Nonary Game: Resonance

* * *

(Current path: 5)

"I guess it's time to go forward again," Boxcars stated.

"As it always seems to be, in life," Delta mused.

"Alright, Confucius. Let's see if we can get our asses out of here." Boxcars reversed and headed back, passing the gym as the other three trolleyed behind him. Unsurprisingly, the stretch of hallway past the exit to the room was also fairly nondescript.

"Wouldn't you think there'd be more classrooms around here?" Leo asked. "Like, so they'd maximize the use of their space, or whatever."

"There's probably just a lot of, like, ventilation and plumbing stuff around here," Boxcars shrugged. "But there's gotta be doors to that stuff somewhere. Not that that's anything we'd be interested in, unless our captor's hiding in the water heater."

"I've seen weirder things," Delta sighed.

In spite of the initial apparent lack of anything noteworthy, it seemed that there were, in fact, a few doors sparsely populating the hallway. Robin was the first to happen upon one, but he found the handle was stuck fast, much like those in the original hallway. He found himself somewhat disappointed; after entering the numbered door, he'd gotten quite used to door handles turning as one would normally expect.

In the front of the pack, Boxcars and Robin were the ones to repeatedly check the doors on either side of the hallway, continuing to find them unworthy of their time. However, there was one final door at the end of the hall, which had something oddly shaped near the middle. Leo paced ahead to check it.

"There must have been some sign taped up here that someone ripped off," he called back. "There's just one corner left." He flicked at the flap left by the unremoved tape to make his point as the others made it to the bend.

Robin tested the handle, a tad bit surprised to feel it turn. "Guess our kidnapper wanted to build the suspense," he said.

"I hope we don't have to solve another damn puzzle," Boxcars groaned.

"Yes, I'd say it's about time we rejoined the rest of the participants," Delta agreed, crossing his arms.

"You mean the people who went through Door [4]?" Robin asked, glancing at the number on Delta's watch. "What makes you so sure we're meeting up?"

"It's only logical," Delta replied. "Our group has a digital root of 5, and theirs has a digital root of 4. There's no subset of them that can go through Door [9], and the same is true for us. That is, unless we're willing to leave Leo behind."

"Hey," Leo retorted. "Besides, you're wrong, for once. Basilio, Lucky, and Cody could definitely go through Door [9]."

"Hmm," Delta followed. "Fair enough. Then, we move on to another point. When we get to Door [9], we all have to be together. There's no way that one of our groups would be lucky enough to choose correctly, and the other would be screwed. That wouldn't be fair."

"What gave you the idea that our kidnapper is fair?" Leo asked.

"Well, it's been a few hours since the game started, and they haven't interfered once. I think it's safe to say they don't intend to." Delta's face remained perfectly composed. "Besides, they gave us all of the rules for this game at the onset, along with all of the warnings about what could potentially get us killed. Nothing is left up to chance." He stopped for a moment then. "That is, except for the other participants' actions. But let's not worry about that."

"Wait a minute, I think we should worry about that," Boxcars interjected. "We could supposedly end up killing someone, couldn't we? There's all kinds of shit we could have grabbed: a weight plate, a damn… dumbbell…" He didn't seem able to think of any other effective weapons.

"All I have is the cinch bag with the notebook and stuff," Robin said, holding up his hands to show innocence.

"And a pencil. Which could be dangerous, if you happened to know where to stab someone with it," Delta chuckled, "but I doubt that."

"Ouch," Robin mumbled.

"And none of the rest of us have anything," Leo said, his mouth forming a tight frown. Robin's left eye narrowed slightly in response, as he was quite sure Leo had gone to retrieve one of the bottles of vitamins back in the locker rooms. _What does he think he's gonna get out of hiding that?_ Robin thought.

"I figured as much. You all seem to be quite a trustworthy sort. But, back to what I was saying, we surely will all meet up again. We've gone through Door [5] and [4], but I assure you the number [9] door is not the next one we'll be seeing." Delta had a solid point, and none of the others could think of a logical reason to counter him.

"Anyway, instead of going on theorizing about what's gonna happen here, why don't we just keep going and get to it?" Boxcars replied. "We still haven't even looked behind this damn door yet. Topaz?"

Robin nodded once, returning to his task of opening the door. The room it contained was fairly small, by high school standards. "I'm not even sure what the purpose of this is," he sighed.

"I'll hazard a guess it's for storage," Boxcars deadpanned, eyeing several shelving units that had been constructed around the room's walls and in the center.

"But it wasn't _made_ for storage," Robin replied. "These are the same shelf things you can get at Tesco for thirty quid."

Delta scratched his head. "I have to agree. This hardly fits the level I'd expected after seeing other rooms in this building."

"Maybe that's why there are no classrooms around here," Leo mused. "The school didn't want the students to know they were so bad at planning." A grin spread across his face, but the others paid him no mind.

"There's all kinds of random junk on these shelves," Boxcars noticed, digging through a layer that seemed to be filled with boxed light bulbs and spare switch plates.

Delta hadn't moved beyond a couple of steps since the door was opened. "There isn't an exit door anywhere. This is the only one that goes to this room. So, fortunately, it looks like we don't have to solve a third puzzle just yet."

"We should still take a good look around," Robin said. "If our kidnapper left it unlocked, it must be for something."

Leo nodded. "Yeah, what do you bet there's like some kind of hidden key or something that we need later. Maybe that one we gave to Topaz has a triplet." Robin couldn't be sure why, but he had the hint of a feeling they would find no such thing.

"Whatever makes you happy," Delta conceded, moving to search a shelf near the back.

Spreading out was a good idea, Robin agreed, so he moved to another corner, out of the way of the other three, beginning a lengthy search of his own.

However…

"I don't think any of this stuff is gonna be useful at all." Leo's tone gave the impression that he'd had the idea for the majority of the time they'd spent searching the room. Robin's skill at estimating time wasn't the strongest, but he figured the group must have spent at least fifteen minutes giving the packed shelves a hearty investigation.

"This isn't a thing like the other two rooms we searched, that's for sure," Boxcars added. "Nothing here really stands out as important, huh?"

Delta's head was leaned back, as though he were somewhere between deep thought and sleep. "Actually, that's what we did wrong." He paused for only a second. "We looked at every shelf instead of what stood out, didn't we?"

"Uh, you wanna clue us in, dude?" Leo asked.

"It's darker over here than it is in the back there, where Topaz and I started," Delta sighed. "Something is in this light fixture, obscuring it just a bit."

"Huh," Boxcars said, looking up at the large, translucent panel above them. "Yeah, there's this roughly rectangular blockage."

"I want to know how you even noticed the difference," Leo said, "and why you had to bring it up like you're the damn riddle master."

Delta shrugged, as a magician might when an audience member asked how they pulled off a trick. "How about we see if we can take out this panel and find what the problem is."

"I don't see any ladders in here," Robin sighed. "And it's probably not a good idea to try climbing any of these shelves. There's probably already like fifty kilograms of shit on some of them, and I'm not about to test their strength."

"What, do you think we should climb on each other's shoulders?" Boxcars said, doubtfully.

"Actually, that's not a terrible idea." Delta immediately turned to Leo. "Leo, hoist me up."

"Excuse me?" Leo asked, clearly not expecting to be drawn into the idea.

"I mean, it's obvious. You're the strongest one of us here, and I'm the lightest. Ah, no offense," he said, turning to Robin and Boxcars, who simply made a face with an expression of slight judgement. "I'm sure I can reach those latches."

Robin found it hard to believe that the storage room could lack a step-ladder, especially after there had been one in the room he'd awoken in. He went to look for it, expecting Boxcars to join him, but the man seemed far more interested in watching the amusing spectacle of Delta trying to negotiate his way up Leo's brawny frame. Robin wouldn't admit it, but the majority of his attention stayed on the two as they awkwardly shuffled around the light, Delta straining to reach the latches with one hand while his other pushed at the top of Leo's head.

"Got it!" Delta's call had eliminated Robin's need to search any longer, and as he approached, he heard the soft sound of something clacking on the ground.

He knelt down to examine it, finding it to be another card key. It was overwhelmingly plain, marked with a bold "5" on the side opposite the stripe. "Do you think we can use this to get back through Door [5]?" he asked.

"Actually," Boxcars started, "I bet this is like, the proof that we've been through this door. I bet we need it to move on."

"Which means we're free from these puzzles?" Leo asked, a bit optimistically as he lowered Delta back to the ground.

"We should really relatch the light…" Delta started, trailing off as the others glared.

"For now, I'd figure," Boxcars answered. "At least until we enter another numbered door. Of course, there are still plenty of questions. For example, what the fuck was our captor thinking putting it in a light? Was he trying to waste our time or our will to live?" He'd clapped his hands together, and a few seconds after he finished speaking, he spread them apart, shrugging widely.

Leo, however, seemed ready for their experience in the storage room to conclude. "Who knows. Come on, let's see if there's another locked door across the hall." Robin nodded once, tapping the card into his right hand and moving to open the door back into the hallway with his left.

There was little more to the hallway past the bend, although Robin supposed they should have looked into it before ducking inside the storage room. In any case, there was nothing urgently awaiting them, excepting another wooden door. It was double-wide, much like Door [5] had been, with the presumably glass windows painted over in black. "That hardly seems necessary," Boxcars lamented.

"Surely you've noticed we can't see from any rooms into any other rooms," Delta added. "I mean, unless the door's open. That must have been intentional on the part of our kidnapper."

"I mean, you usually can't see into halls from classrooms anyway," Leo responded. "But this does seem pretty intentional. I guess he doesn't want us to know what anyone else is up to unless we're in the room with them."

Boxcars chuckled once. "That's nice and ominous. But, uh, there's the swipe right to the right of the doors. Or, rather, it's kind of like a chip reader. Topaz?" Wordlessly, Robin slipped the 5 card into the reader.

"Here we go." Instinctively, Robin made to pull the card back out, but it remained stuck in the reader slot. "Well, guess we won't need this one again."

The door opened into, exactly as expected, another hallway, but there was little to it. Directly in their line of sight sat another double door, much like the one they'd just crossed. To their right was a wall, looking utterly plain, as though a poster had recently been torn down.

On their left side, however, was another set of double doors that was locked into an open position. "About damn time we got out of this basement," Boxcars cheered. Indeed, the stairs were a good sign; the group would be advancing in the game and hopefully catching up to the others soon.

Robin could feel himself getting closer and closer to freedom with each step he climbed, perhaps the most joyful he'd been since waking up. "Don't get too excited," Delta reminded him. "We've still got six doors to find before Door [9]."

"Spoilsport," Robin said with a slight laugh. Delta clapped him on the shoulder as they neared the top of the stairwell.

Leo was the first to reach the doors at the top, which, for some reason, had not been open like those at the bottom, but Robin figured it hardly mattered. Without waiting for permission, Leo pushed the door open, swinging it wide and immediately finding…

"Whoa!"

"Cody! Oh, sorry dude," Leo called out. "Guess you were right, Delta." The man nodded once, and Robin could imagine him winking in self-satisfaction.

"Leo, good to see you. I guess you're all safe, then?" Cody's eyes jumped to each of the four as they exited the stairwell, finding themselves in another main hallway.

"Are you with anyone else?" Delta asked.

"Right here," Basilio's voice rang out, from a few steps away. He quickly jogged over, offering a weak wave. "We just thought that we should wait here by the stairwell, since it could not be long until you finished Door [5]. We were a bit worried that the rest of you might have been having some trouble, although I admit my sense of time is not the best."

"Nah, nothing to worry about," Boxcars reassured. "We just spent too damn long looking for that 5 key card."

"Ah, I hear ya," Cody nodded. "Come on, everyone else went that way. They'll probably be waiting." He pointed along the hallway before leading the charge.

Within thirty seconds, they found themselves walking through quite an expansive area. "This must be the foyer, or… entryway," Boxcars said. "Wait, what do they call this room again?"

"Beats me," Cody replied.

Robin looked around, somewhat impressed by the large fans affixed to the ceiling, which must have been at least two stories high. He could see a row of benches along one wall, on the opposite side of the room from the hallway they'd just exited. The wall adjacent to it was entirely metal, leading him to believe that it blocked off what must have been the main entrance to the campus. He gave it two moderate knocks, and it replied with a dull enough sound to convince him that it would not be moved any time soon.

Alas, the open area extended far to the other side. The walls natural to the school were overwhelmingly plain, constructed of white and gold painted bricks but bare in the wooden plaques or computer-paper posters that one might expect to see in a high school's main area. A small alcove, fenced by about five feet of brick, sat a short walk away from the group, and Cody lead them over to it.

"Ian, they're here," Cody said.

The man in the pilot uniform stood slowly from the large bean bag chair he'd been resting in, looking quite pleased to see the others. As though his joy had given him a bit too much energy, he stuck out his hand to shake that of the first person before him, which happened to be Boxcars. Awkward as Robin was sure he might have been had Ian greeted him, Boxcars took the handshake with a grin and heartily patted Ian on the shoulder. "Good to see you're all safe."

"Judging by your demeanor, you have all gone unhurt as well," Delta noted.

Ian gave a quick nod. "Yeah, the other three are just right down the hallway up that couple of steps," he replied, pointing firmly. "You'll probably want to see what they're looking at, and we can exchange stories once we get there."

"You've been up to a lot since we split up?" Leo asked, a bit skeptical. Robin figured there couldn't have been much more to their story than to his own, but in any case, everyone was happy to see each other still safe and sound, and so he could stand to hear a bit of lighthearted chatter.

However, their stories would not be the first thing the group discussed. A series of steps stood along a hallway at the backside of the entryway, and after climbing them, the group had rejoined the rest of the participants. Basilio, Marcus, and Lucky, however, had not been waiting for them with bated breath. They were staring down two large doors, which blocked off paths diverting down hallways perpendicular to each other. Each was painted with a familiarly messy red digit. The one on the left was labeled [2], and the one on the right was labeled [6].

"Two more numbered doors, huh," Robin mused.

"Actually…" Marcus started. "You must have missed it, but there's a third one. Door [1]. If you head back to the main entrance and then turn back to the way you came immediately, you'll see it on the wall you came through from the staircase." Robin and the rest of the Door [5] crew noticeably frowned, and Marcus offered a weak smile. "Uh, don't worry. I'm not all that observant either."

Robin allowed his attention to drift from Marcus for a few seconds, over the others who had gone through Door [4]. At the surface, they seemed fairly content, but Robin could sense some kind of resentment resonating off of Lucky and Cody.

"Looks like you found a cinch bag," Boxcars noticed, somewhat quietly to Marcus. As the other participant responded to him, Robin leaned over to whisper to Ian.

"What's the deal with them?" he asked, widening his eyebrows at Cody and Lucky, who had visibly shifted to not face each other.

Ian's first response was a smirk and then a shrug. "Hard to say, really. Their personalities just don't click even a little bit. We split up in the kitchen, and I happened upon them talking in some sharp hushed tones. Couldn't make out what they were saying, though. But I wouldn't bother trying to get that out of them." He crossed his arms then, his focus returned to the rest of the group.

Delta had been describing the events after the split, but he seemed to finish shortly after Robin began paying attention. "Our story's basically the same," Lucky responded. "First the kitchen, then the cafeteria, and here we are. But we didn't have nearly so much trouble with our 4 key."

"Did you maybe find anything else that might be important?" Leo asked.

"There was one key we couldn't find a lock for at all," Ian added, reaching within his jacket to look for it. He seemed to be having a bit of trouble, but he eventually fished out a fairly fancy, old-fashioned key.

"What's that symbol on it? Like a woman with a crown?" Boxcars asked, pointing to a clean, black carving on the head.

"It's Mercury, the planet. Or so I assume," Marcus answered.

"Yeah, probably not a whole lot of other things that use that symbol," Lucky said.

"Maybe the element," Delta mused. "We did find some back in the storage room on floor 0."

"In any case, we can't use it now," Ian sighed. "Topaz, since we gave you that other key, can you hang on to this one too?" Robin looked around the room, ensuring none of the other participants were going to speak up against the choice. After a few seconds, he gave a solid nod, slipping it into his pocket alongside the mystery key.


	11. Chapter 11

Nonary Game: Resonance

* * *

"I suppose we should go ahead and split off into these three doors, then?" Leo asked.

"Wait, we shouldn't do that so quickly," Cody replied. "We only just got out of the others like ten minutes ago."

"He's right," Ian said. "We could have missed something on this floor because we were too focused on racing ahead as quickly as we could. We should at least take a few minutes to make sure there are no other ways to go."

"So like we did back on floor 0," Robin added. He couldn't help remembering that the investigation had revealed to the group that there would be no other way to go than forward, but if there were any clues like the key attached to the bathroom sink, he'd hate to miss them. "Should we split up? Like, are there multiple different places to investigate or something?"

"Yes, in fact," Lucky cut in. "If you want, I can give everyone a quick rundown of the options, and then we can go explore." No one else said anything, responding only in a series of shrugs and nods. "Excellent. For starters, we could head back toward the stairwell, to see if we could have missed something like the supply closet on floor 0. Second, there's Door [1]. We've only glanced at it before being distracted by Doors [2] and [6], so there could be something hidden over there. There's also the big main room, which could surely use some investigation, and then, I guess, the hallway around Doors [2] and [6]."

To Robin, none of these areas sounded particularly fruitful to investigate, especially the last one, since they'd all gathered around the two doors and surely seen all there was to see. Alas, they figured it best to split into four roughly even groups. Basilio and Boxcars would look around the area of the doors sharing their bracelet numbers; Marcus and Cody would head back towards Door [1] to see if anything interesting was in that small entryway; and the largest force of Delta, Leo, and Lucky would investigate the main room.

Since the hallway had seemed the only place Robin could believe anyone had overlooked anything, he chose to head that way. Ian had decided to join him, and he was actually somewhat pleased. He hadn't the chance to talk much to the man earlier, and Ian seemed the kind of person who was determined to solve the mystery of their capture more than any of the others.

"Do you think we're wasting our time here?" Robin asked, several seconds after they'd passed back into the hallway.

Ian visibly tensed, something cold darkening his eyes for a split second, so quickly that Robin thought he imagined it. "Why would I?"

"Didn't your group already look at everything in this hallway? There's no way you all just ran straight for the foyer, unless you magically knew it was going to be there and avoided everything back here." He could easily believe that adrenaline had affected the other participants' observational skills back at the beginning of the game, but by this point a couple of hours in, he no longer could accept any inattention.

"Oh," Ian answered, blowing out a slow breath of air. "That's reasonable enough, I guess. But, to be fair, Cody agreed to stay behind and wait for the rest of you. I guess it was an assumption in the back of our minds that he'd see if there was anything we needed to know in the area."

"He didn't say anything of the sort when we met up with him," Robin continued. "But I don't think I know him well enough to trust him, so he could have neglected to mention something intentionally." The look Ian gave him then was almost surprised at the idea of Cody being any less than trustworthy, and he wondered what gave Ian that impression.

"Well, even if Cody wanted to keep something to himself, what could he gain by hiding it?" Ian asked, reaching for a nearby door handle that failed to budge. "If there's something over here, we'll see it."

"Point," Robin conceded. He'd moved to the other side of the hall, just in case there were any other doors coming upon them. Alas, they quickly made it back to where the stairwell had been, and they found the door had been stopped open, much like it had on floor 0.

"Something wrong, Topaz?" Ian asked. It was only then that Robin realized a quizzical look had spread over his face, and he moved to shake it off.

"I don't remember us leaving the door open. Uh, no big deal," Robin assured. _I was the last one through, wasn't I? And I sure didn't put the stopper in it…_ He'd expected Ian to simply move past it and head around the upcoming bend in the hall, but he didn't. Instead, Ian had met Robin firmly in eye contact.

"Don't worry." Robin wasn't sure why Ian had said that, but he couldn't bring himself to ask. "Alright, let's just keep going and see what we see." With a nod, he returned to the task at hand.

 _What a strange interaction,_ Robin thought, _much like every time I talk to any of these people._ He couldn't help wondering what the hell he'd gotten himself into by failing to close his door completely the night before.

Unlike his, however, all of the doors supposedly leading to classrooms were locked, and after a nearby bend in the hall, a large, metal wall prevented their further exploration. "At least this wasn't a total waste of time," Ian mused. "Here's another restroom." The sign beside it lacked a gender denomination, so Robin assumed it was neutral. "Let's see if there's anything inside."

"Exactly as expected, this bathroom looks the same as the one on floor 0." Robin traipsed toward the sink, looking to see if there might have been something else hiding in the sink.

"I'm starting to sense a trend," Ian replied, only slightly tongue-in-cheek.

"There are chains hanging from each of the faucets, but…" Robin started, approaching the nearest sink. "Yeah, this one's just attached to a normal plug. I'm not sure why a school bathroom has these, anyway. Who is ever at school and needs a reservoir of water?"

"Nothing in this building makes sense, honestly," Ian agreed. "Hey, down there at the last sink. The chain goes all the way down into the drain." He raised his eyebrows at Robin then, offering a hint of a grin. Robin held out his hand, as if to allow Ian's passage. Following the lead, Ian approached and wrapped a finger around the chain, tugging it up and clasping the end in his palm. After giving it a little jiggle to congratulate himself, he spread his hand for Robin to see.

Indeed, another simple key was affixed to the end of the chain. The surface was immaculately silver, excepting a black engraving. The symbol appeared to be a triangle on top of a plus sign, almost like the female symbol. "Does this marking mean anything to you?" Robin asked.

Ian gave a short chuckle. "Your guess is as good as mine. But that's four keys we've found now, with three different symbols." The look on his face gave Robin the impression that this was good news, although Robin was unsure by which metric that might be the case. "What do you bet this is the same story after the next round of doors?"

"Hopefully by then we have enough keys to actually open something," Robin sighed.

"Not to mention a something to open," Ian concurred. "But there's nothing we can do now, I guess. Might as well head back; I'm willing to bet everyone else has finished their searches by now." With that, he gently laid the key on top of the sink counter.

"Actually, hold on a moment," Robin said. Ian raised his eyebrows again. "There's something I wanted to talk to you about, before we head back."

"What is it?"

"I know we've only been here for a couple of hours, but I was hoping I could start to piece together a bit of the puzzle," Robin answered. "About why we're all here in the game."

"You really do think there is some kind of deep connection?" Ian asked.

"I don't see why not," Robin said.

Ian turned to face him directly, showing that he'd opened the gates to a fully involved conversation. "Well, this is just my opinion, but if you ask me, wouldn't it make a lot more sense for someone to kidnap a bunch of random people? If we're all connected, then we'd all be able to trace it back to someone in particular, so we could figure the kidnapper out. But if you grab people who don't know you, then you're much less likely to be traced, even by the police. Or so I'd think."

"Consider this," Robin mused, staring at a distant wall in deep thought. "Setting up this Nonary Game must have been expensive, right? There is all sorts of technology involved, these puzzles are fairly complex and run themselves, not to mention the apparently fatal quantities of poison in our bracelets. Whoever was doing this had to know exactly what they were getting into."

Ian's face wrinkled then, his mouth betraying his discontentment. "That's fair. Our kidnapper has definitely been on top of the mind games so far."

"But then that brings us back to what you just said," Robin continued. "And, to be honest, it's the biggest thing that eludes me at the moment. Why would he pick the nine of us?"

"You brought this up back when we were picking nicknames, didn't you?" Ian recalled. "But no one said anything. Does that not mean there isn't a connection?"

"Maybe not an obvious one," Robin said. "There is an alternative thought, though, and I think it's a far more likely chance."

"Some of us are connected, but we're keeping it to ourselves."

Robin was a bit impressed. "Uh, exactly. One thing that's kind of clued me in is how certain pairs of us already get along so well, or don't." Ian's eyes angled up then, as though he were thinking about the other participants, and he nodded once. "So, forgive me if I'm overstepping a bit here, but… I think you might know more than you're telling the rest of us."

After that statement, it was Ian's turn to be surprised. "Are you accusing me of lying?"

"No, nothing quite so bad. Just withholding information," Robin said, doing his best to keep the stern face of a parent testing their child's honesty. "I'd ask you directly if you know anyone, because I think you do, but there's no need for me to put that dilemma on you. Just remember, if you're hiding a connection between us, that could be something that's keeping us from figuring out why we've all been kidnapped."

"That's… a bit farfetched," Ian sighed. "Even if some of us know each other, there's no way we all do. I mean, think about it. I'm from the Netherlands. You're English. Boxcars is from the United States. What kind of connection would make sense?"

"It might not be too hard. Maybe you and Marcus went to college together." Robin hadn't meant to name the person he thought Ian knew directly, but he could tell from the hesitation in Ian's face that he'd hit the mark. Accepting it as a win, he continued. "It's safe to assume that there is a reason each of us is here specifically. I just… have no idea why I'd be one of them. I'm really nobody special." Since he'd manipulated a bit of the truth out of Ian, he figured it was only fair to offer a some in return.

"That's not true," Ian said.

"Hey, no need to start waxing poetic," Robin defended. "I mean, let's be honest. You're a pilot; Cody does parkour; Leo must lift weights professionally. I'm just a college student, and not an exceptional one, so choosing me really doesn't make any sense." He didn't tell Ian, but he'd been thinking their kidnapper had something against talented people, which all of the other participants seemed to be, although perhaps that was Robin's low self-confidence talking.

"Listen, Topaz. It'd be asinine for me to say I understand why everything is happening here, but I can say that I'm pretty sure you are someone special. I mean, I think everyone is totally special in their own way, but that definitely doesn't detract from you being so. I know what it's like to see ridiculously successful people my own age and wonder how the hell they got it all figured out when I felt so confused and lost myself, but there is something unique about you. Even if you don't know what they are yet, you do have important skills. And no matter how much natural talent is out there, people with determination have done a hell of a lot more to change the world." Ian gave a long slow breath then, maintaining eye contact until several seconds later. "Well, so much for not waxing poetic."

Ian's words had given Robin a lot to think about, and as such, he hadn't been able to form a response. His first thoughts past his disbelief in his own talents were on what had happened in Ian's past that lead him to be an impromptu motivational speaker. The more he considered it, the more he appreciated the sentiment he'd been given by someone who hadn't even known him a day ago.

"You've been pretty clever so far," Ian continued after another minute or so. "If anyone's going to figure out this mystery, I'm putting my money on it being you." As Robin considered both of the conversations he'd had with Ian since their reunion, he found himself hoping the man was right.

They fell into a wordless cadence as they approached the main room of the floor. Robin had figured that, given the distance they'd walked and the time they'd burned through with their distractions, the others would have completed their separate investigations and prepared themselves emotionally for another trek into the numbered doors. Since no one was raving when they returned, he safely assumed a miraculous exit hadn't cropped up.

"We might as well share first," Basilio said, shrugging in Boxcars' direction. "There was nothing of any interest in the hallway around Doors [2] and [6] apart from the doors themselves. However, the RED machines beside both doors seem to be working just fine, so we can go forward with no delays if no one has found anything else exciting."

"Whoa, not so fast," Lucky replied. Their face settled into what was almost a smirk, as though they wanted to keep it from being obvious if they had something interesting to share. "You haven't heard from any of the rest of us. Unless the two of you are trying to hide something."

"Hey, calm down there, hotshot," Boxcars retorted. "There's no need for you to nitpick semantics. Cody, did you two find anything?"

Not giving Lucky a chance at lashing back, Cody immediately replied. "Unfortunately, we didn't. But the RED is fully functional as expected, so there's nothing stopping us there either. Topaz?"

"Huh? Oh," Robin replied, not expecting to be called on so quickly. "Well, actually, there was one thing. Most of the hallway was lined with rooms that are probably inaccessible, so that's nothing to really worry about. The big thing, though, is we found another key. It was in this floor's bathroom, chained to one of the sinks."

"Normally, I'd think that's a good sign," Ian added, "since it means we're hopefully finding all of the keys available to us so far. But this one has its own symbol, so it's not a pair with the one from Door [4]. So I'm willing to bet there are more keys we'll be looking for."

"Yeah, with six or seven more doors to go through, it's probably a safe bet," Lucky replied, their tone less than jovial. "What symbol was on it?"

"It's a triangle on top of a cross. Like the Venus sign, but… a triangle." Ian shrugged casually.

"So that's two symbols that don't mean anything to us," Robin replied. "And if we can't tell what they are, I'm starting the think the other key we found might not actually be referring to Mercury." The other participants smirked, but no one had any constructive response to his thought.

"Looks like that leaves us," Delta answered. "There was admittedly very little of interest out here. For as big a room as it is, most of it is surprisingly empty. I must say, the secluded area with the bean bags is the only part of this room that I have enjoyed spending time in so far. There is actually where I found the first of our clues."

He reached into his pocket, pulling out a slip of paper the size of an index card. It looked as though it had been folded in half, but Delta had smoothed it flat again. He flipped it to show the group what was written on the obverse: a number 8, encased by brackets, entirely in red ink. "Kind of menacing, isn't it, Topaz?"

Robin didn't find himself able to respond. A mysteriously cold sensation swirled about in his heart, as though something were about to burst from the ceiling, screaming and frightening. Why, he wondered, had a simple number given him such trepidation?

He had the feeling his uneasiness was about to come to a point as he noticed the others giving him a variety of unpleasant looks. Lucky looked a bit surprised and almost amused at Robin's discomfort. Leo seemed as though the trust he'd had for Robin was being questioned. Boxcars, though, looked dissatisfied, as though his time was being wasted. "Anyway," Boxcars said, "what's a card with a number on it got to do with anything?"

"Well, Delta did say there was a second clue, did he not?" Lucky asked.

"Of course you would have it," Boxcars grunted.

"Don't waste our time, Lucky. Spit it out," Cody commanded.

"Hey, hey, no need to order me around. I'll show you," Lucky replied. They fished inside of their vest, retrieving an envelope. Its flap was up, its immaculateness showing that whoever had placed it left it unsealed. "Inside of this envelope, there is one solitary photograph." They slipped the photo from its casing, resting it in their hand and absent-mindedly flicking it a few times.

Leo leaned over, giving the image a hearty stare. "It's a girl, probably high school age. But none of the three of us recognize her. Any of you?" At that remark, Lucky inverted the picture, showing the rest of the group.

The girl in the picture looked rather pleased, and her wavy brown hair framed her face in a joyful way. Alas, Robin had certainly never seen her before, at least as far as he could remember.

An exasperated grunt from beside him, however, captured his attention after another second. As he quickly glanced over, his hands reflexively rising for defense, he saw Marcus collapse to the ground.


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Note: We're preparing to split up the group again. Remember, this isn't actually a choose-your-own-adventure story, so please do not request that Robin choose a certain door. Thanks, and hope you enjoy it.

* * *

Nonary Game: Resonance

* * *

"Whoa!" Leo called, presumably as a reflex, as Marcus dropped to the floor. As he landed, his hands were pressed firmly into his temples, squeezing into his eyes and disheveling his hair.

Without a word, Boxcars descended to a knee, putting a hand on Marcus' shoulder and squeezing just as tight, or so it seemed to Robin, who had stayed completely still. Most of the other participants had done so as well, not being so inclined to provide comfort to someone they had just met. Indeed, it had even been a bit of a surprise to Robin that Boxcars had been the one to offer the kind gesture, since he was beginning to think that was something more up Ian's alley. Alas, one look at Ian's face revealed a pallor more representative of the man's nature.

Most of the other participants' faces held mixed amounts of discomfort as time went on. Basilio and Leo had turned their heads away from the rest of the group, their eyes lost in the lines bordering the tiles on the floor across the room. Lucky's mouth had twisted into an odd curve, leading Robin to believe they were biting the inside of their lips in some strange sort of empathy. No matter the expressions, though, every one of their bodies was stock-still, frozen in fear of bringing attention to themselves.

After a painstaking amount of time, though, Boxcars finally managed to coerce Marcus to his feet. Only one hand dropped back to his side, however, and he didn't seem to have yet opened his eyes. Boxcars whispered something in his ear, and he nodded weakly. With that, the two began to trudge toward the enclosure with the bean bags. Robin watched them in silence as they slipped inside and slowly sank into seated positions.

Having let another several seconds of quiet pass, Ian asked, "Is… everyone else alright?" He was answered by a series of nods.

"Yeah," Delta said, stretching out his vowel sound slightly as he took on a pensive look. "That leaves me with some interesting questions, but I suppose that's nothing we can solve by worrying about it just yet. I'll reassert the question: Do any of you recognize the picture?"

"No, not at all," Basilio admitted.

"Same here," Cody sighed. "She's a total stranger."

The consensus was out, and thus, the clue had become useless. Robin sighed, a bit exasperated. If a picture of this girl was hidden in the room, she had to have been a hint about something - the purpose behind the Nonary Game, or maybe even Zero's identity - and it frustrated him to think that the mystery might have to go unsolved. He supposed that Boxcars or Marcus might be able to identify her, considering they had conveniently gotten distracted and slipped away upon seeing the photo, but it hardly seemed the time to approach them about it. Robin gave the face of his bracelet, bearing the same digit as the mysterious card, a long and considerate look before turning back to the others.

"Was there anything else you three found in here, by any chance?" Cody asked.

"I figured our silence might answer for us," Delta began, "but no. This room was definitely not ever considered to be one of our kidnapper's puzzle rooms, and wisely so, I might add. There's just nowhere to really hide anything." Robin gave the room another quick lookover, easily agreeing with the man.

"So, essentially…" Lucky stated, "...we've got nothing of any use at the moment." Robin wished he could retort, since he was still rather proud of his find, but there was little support he could give to the hope that had been trying to flourish in his heart.

"Not entirely true," Delta answered. "I think we've definitively decided that our numbered bracelets are quite functional."

"Do you really think we're in any condition to just keep moving on?" Ian asked. "I mean, Marcus is clearly nowhere near ready to walk on his own. And we can't just leave the key in the bathroom behind. What if there is something on this floor that can be unlocked by it that we're missing, since it's not like we can come back here and use it whenever we want to."

"If there was something, we would have found it," Basilio grunted. "There is no point waiting around. No one is going to come and save us."

"That's not what I was saying!" Ian replied. "I'm saying as soon as we head through the numbered doors, we can't get the key again. If we need it for something later, we're fucked."

"It doesn't matter!" Basilio snapped back. "We can't take it with us! What are you so afraid of?"

"What do you think? What are we all afraid of? I don't want to die here any more than any of the rest of you do, and I want as much of an advantage over this game as I can get, so that maybe we can actually all get out of here." Ian's words came in quick bursts, almost making his last sentence sound like several separate ones.

"There's no reason to be so upset, dude," Cody sighed. "Whoever kidnapped us set up everything in this game for a reason. If we have nothing to open with those keys yet, it's probably because we're not supposed to. I hate to say we should just do what he's suggested in his rules, but our only real choice is to keep moving with the game."

"Besides, we'll probably come back here later," Leo said.

"What makes you so sure?" Ian frowned as he spoke.

"Well, if we didn't, what would be the point?" Leo answered. "I doubt these keys are just a joke our kidnapper's laughing about somewhere. And, more tangibly, I guess, there's no way this school has only one stairwell between each floor. That'd just be bad planning, super inefficient for students, right?"

"But there wasn't a stairwell connected to the part of the hallway when we first woke up, remember?" Robin added, putting a hand on the back of his neck. He rubbed it slowly as he thought back to the start of the game.

"Maybe it was in another part of the hallway we can't open yet," Leo shrugged.

"Anyway, circling back, none of that really matters right this moment," Lucky stated. "We can spend all the time we want thinking about how this game could possibly go if you want. Or we can actually see it for ourselves. It's not like any of us are going to get murdered if we're all in groups, right?" The fact that Lucky had left their last statement as a question made it hard for Robin to find the idea comforting.

In the previous several seconds, Ian had detached himself from the conversation to check in with Boxcars on Marcus' condition. "Now isn't really the perfect time to leave," Boxcars sighed. "Why don't we give him a few minutes? He'll be better then." He gave a heavy sigh. "We're not in a rush anyway."

Thus, it was decided. Ian chose to stick with the two of them while they waited, and the group began to instinctively split into twos to give each other plenty of space. Delta and Lucky splintered off first, heading down the hallway toward Doors [2] and [6]. Leo and Cody decided they'd stick to another corner of the main room, leaning against the walls and beginning to converse in hushed tones.

"Perhaps we might head down that hallway," Basilio suggested, pointing back toward the stairwell.

"Really?" Robin asked, his face scrunching up in discontentment. "I did just come back from there with Ian, and I hate to just walk back and forth until we go through the numbered doors."

"Alright, then maybe I will have to just go myself," Basilio replied, adopting a smirk.

"Seriously? Why would you want to do that?"

Basilio's face returned to a neutral expression. "Okay, maybe I just have to use the restroom."

"Uh…" Robin said. "Fair enough. I guess." As awkward as the idea of following Basilio to the restroom seemed, he did not want to be standing around the main room alone in complete silence, so he lead the way down the long hallway.

He did, however, take the liberty of standing outside the bathroom while Basilio was using it. After a few minutes, the other man greeted him again. "So, that's the key, then," he said. Robin offered a single nod. "And that's exactly what it looked like back on floor 0?"

"Almost exactly. Except the different symbol, which you know about already," Robin confirmed.

"Topaz…" Basilio started. "Might I share a theory with you? You seem like you are good at making connections, figuring things out, and the like."

"Definitely," Robin answered. "I mean, definitely share it with me. Actually, do you think you might want to share it with everyone? The more we work together, the better our chances of getting knowledge from everybody and figuring this out."

"Ah, I… think I should not do that just yet. My theory has a fairly big flaw in it, and I believe the others might be a bit quicker to shoot my ideas down than you would. Shall I continue?" Basilio's words were immediately followed by a heartier nod from Robin. "Great. So, I think that, after seeing the symbol on the key just now, I might have some idea of what it stands for."

"Really?" Robin asked, his eyes widening slightly. "This could be really important for the game. What is it?"

"Well, it may not necessarily be what our kidnapper was going for, but… the triangle on top of the cross is used as a symbol for Pallas. Are you familiar with it?" Robin shook his head, so Basilio continued. "It is an asteroid, one of the largest and one of the earliest to be found, so it was around for the times when people still believed in astrology and gave symbols to any celestial bodies they knew of."

"So, it's an astronomical symbol…" Robin mused. He'd been somewhat familiar with the symbols of the planets, but he'd never heard of symbols being used for asteroids. "That would mean that the key from Door [4] probably does represent Mercury. But what's so special about Pallas?"

"As far as I am aware, there is nothing all that special about the asteroid itself. Our kidnapper seems to be something of an… esoteric man; I would bet he is trying to represent more of the mythos of Pallas than the astronomy," Basilio answered.

"You wouldn't happen to know much about that, would you?"

Basilio's face gave way to a lighthearted grin. "There is where you are wrong, Topaz. Admittedly, there is quite a lot of detail and depth to Greek mythology that can be… overwhelming. Perhaps a lot of the information is not exactly relevant to what our kidnapper is thinking, or alternatively there is a lot of meaning that can be derived from one mythical figure, which would mean it is impossible to know why they have been chosen as a symbol of this game.

"However, I suppose I can give a bit of a backstory into one specific story. Most of the earliest asteroids were named after women in Greek mythology. Pallas was actually used as an additional name of sorts for Athena, who was the goddess of war and wisdom and the like. You might recall her influence in the business of mortals in stories like the Odyssey, where she uses her cleverness and wit for battle to help out the protagonists," Basilio explained. Not sure what to think of any of this information, Robin waited for him to continue.

"The most relevant story, I believe, is the one in which she received the epithet of Pallas. There is a lot of disagreement among scholars about where exactly the name came from. Some believe it came from a word that meant a young woman, so it was already a part of her name, since she tends to be the first young Greek goddess people thought of. Or so I assume," Basilio said with a shrug. "Others say that she had a close loved one who was named Pallas, and at one point, the two became angry with each other, and Athena accidentally killed Pallas. She was stricken with grief and guilt, and so to honor her loved one, she took on their name as part of her own."

"Not sure that would be anyone else's first instinct," Robin chuckled.

"I suppose that is why some scholars believe this story was made up later than the rest of her mythos, as kind of a theorized story about where the epithet came from," Basilio stated. "The debates do not end there. Some say Pallas was Athena's father, some say her sister, and some say a close friend. Sometimes they were at a lake. And some people think the word comes from an entirely different Greek word meaning 'brandish.'

"That is the thing about studying ancient cultures, I suppose," he continued. "You are never going to get the entire truth. Admittedly, I assume a large part of that is because the people in the stories are not real, assuming you do not believe in the Greek deities. Of course, from an anthropological standpoint, there was an original story, or maybe a few, and it is understandable to want to get a look at the unaltered version, to get a better understanding of the culture that created it instead of the one that followed."

"Yeah, not a lot of stories were written down back then, were they?" Robin added.

"Unfortunately not. And that type of story just does not last the test of time when handed down orally for thousands and thousands of years. I must say, I am quite relieved that we have gone ahead and invented the internet and pushed people to participate in it. Recording history in such a way is much more advantageous for future anthropologists… but I suppose that is a wide digression," Basilio said.

"So, apart from the fact that this story doesn't seem to have much relevance to our situation," Robin started, "there is another flaw in your theory that you mentioned?"

Basilio gave a slow nod, one that was almost a surrender. "If we suppose that the symbol on the key in this bathroom is representative of Pallas, and the one we found in Door [4] is of Mercury, that still leaves the other key that you have a mystery."

Robin retrieved the key from his pocket, recalling its simple dashed circle symbol. "No chance there's another asteroid or something that uses this symbol?"

"In fact, there is not a single celestial body that uses that symbol," Basilio admitted. "And there is little other chance for someone to apply literal symbols to mythology."

Robin pondered the implications of Basilio's theory deeply as the two returned to the main room. They were quite chuffed to see that Marcus and Boxcars were standing, although they did not appear to have returned to peak performance. "I guess we should get ready to head on, then, if there's nothing else worth looking at," Boxcars said, crossing his arms.

"The doors we have this time are [1], [2], and [6]," Delta reminded everyone, "so I believe we should just all choose doors again?"

"Hold on," Cody interrupted. "We're gonna have to do better than we did back with the first two doors. Just letting whoever's loudest make decisions for the rest of us doesn't really make any sense. Well, I mean, I guess it's reasonable enough when we're all hyped up, but this time, it's not really fair anymore."

"What do you propose we do?" Ian asked. After considering for a moment that his phrase may have been construed to be abrasive, he reiterated. "What I mean is, do you have an idea that could be more fair? I guess we could all vote at the same time or something."

"I doubt we need to go that deep," Delta countered. "Honestly, none of us have any real reason to pick a specific door over any other. There's no need to overthink this." Ian didn't offer a rebuttal, instead pursing his lips together and looking to the floor.

"How about this," Basilio offered. "Those of us who did not get to make a decision between Door [4] and Door [5] should get to choose first now."

Boxcars nodded, clearly on board with the announcement. "Who had their doors picked for them last time?"

"That'd be me, Marcus, and Leo," Ian responded. "If it's all the same to everyone here, I want to take Door [6]."

"Doesn't really matter what we want," Lucky added. "If it's your choice, it's your choice."

"Marcus, what do you say?" Leo asked. He gave his fellow participant a sympathetic look as Marcus slowly rubbed his closed eyes.

"It doesn't matter." Marcus' words were whispered, and even against the silent backdrop of the anxious group, Robin could barely make out the blunt message.

Leo offered the statement a modicum of respectful silence in return, knowing that his next words would be somewhat more selfish. "Alright then. I guess I'll pick Door [2]."

"Whose choice should be next, then?" Basilio asked.

"Well, Marcus and Ian were paired together at the end last time, and so were me and Topaz," Leo mused. "He was the last one to make a decision, so I guess we just let him pick. Reverse order, that sort of thing."

None of the others immediately rejected the idea, perhaps because they could feel the palpable tension of the room swelling about them. Not one to stir up trouble, Robin dutifully decided which door he would take. His choice would be to enter…

(Door [1].)

(Door [2] with Leo.)

(Door [6] with Ian.)


	13. Chapter 13

Author's Note: Hope you're ready for more puzzle rooms.

* * *

Nonary Game: Resonance

* * *

"I'll go ahead and take Door [2] as well," Robin decided. As much as he wanted to believe that he could find a way to relate well to any of the other participants, he couldn't help feeling that Leo was someone he could trust more easily. Indeed, the muscular man seemed to be content with that decision, although Robin began to wonder if he found Robin's constant presence to be an imposition.

"If we're going to enter all three of the doors, then we'll have to divide into three groups of three," Lucky said. "So, I'll be going through Door [2] with Leo and Topaz." 5 plus 8 plus 7 equals 20; 2 plus 0 equals 2. Externally, Robin maintained a neutral countenance, but he could have thought of a few of the others he would rather have been assigned into groups with. Lucky wasn't exactly the caustic type, the kind of person that irritated Robin the most, but the way they spoke did little to assuage any of his discomfort at being forced into the Nonary Game.

"In that case, whoever joins me better have a digital root of 5," Ian noted. "Who's undecided… Basilio, Boxcars, Marcus, Cody, and Delta…" The way he recited everyone's names made it apparent that it had been more for his own benefit.

Alas, Delta was faster to the conclusion than Ian could have been. "The only pair that makes a digital root of 5 is Basilio and Marcus." 1 plus 2 plus 3 equals 6. "So that just leaves Boxcars, Cody, and me to enter Door [1]." 6 plus 9 plus 4 equals 19; 1 plus 9 equals 10; 1 plus 0 equals 1.

"Is everyone satisfied?" Leo asked.

"Like I said earlier," Delta answered, "how could we possibly have that strong of a preference to begin with?"

"You got to make your choice," Lucky agreed. "That was the plan, so it doesn't matter what we want. Honestly, you should consider making decisions for your own benefit and not caring how anyone else feels."

Robin could tell that Leo's jaw clenched in response, and he thought he could see a vein twitch on the man's neck. Lucky, however, seemed unfazed. They gave Leo an indescribable expression before making their way toward the hallway which diverged into Doors [2] and [6].

"Well, same as before, keep safe," Cody said.

"We'll see you all before too long, alright?" Boxcars assured. With a few more basic words of departure, the team heading for Door [1] split off, chattering quietly with each other before activating the RED.

Although Robin knew consciously that his team would want him to get going, he stopped at the top of the tiny staircase, giving a sidelong glance as Delta, Boxcars, and Cody jogged through Door [1]. He waited in place until the door had completely shut, then feeling Leo's hand on his shoulder. "Come on, dude; they're probably too busy for us to check in." Robin shook his head to clear it, following the other five to the intersection in the hallway.

In a manner of seconds, they found themselves before it. "Well, there they are," Basilio sighed. Ian stood just behind him, his hand absently placed on Marcus' shoulder as though to guide him. "See you all soon. Hopefully." Basilio's last word was said quietly, as though it were unintended. Within another twenty seconds, the Door [6] group had departed.

"That's our cue, I suppose," Lucky said, adjusting their cap before placing their hand on the RED's scanner panel. "After you."

Robin followed suit, finding the RED colder than he remembered during the first round. He retracted his hand immediately upon registering the beep, allowing Leo quick access. The muscular man seemed to be more prepared than the others; he scanned in and pulled the lever without any consideration. Thus, the three jogged inside, hoping to find the DEAD nearby.

"I don't see it," Leo grunted a few seconds after the door shut behind them, the beeping punctuating his breaths. "Let's hurry." The hallway was surprisingly bare for being on the first floor of a school, so the group could easily note the lack of DEAD. They jogged quickly ahead, finding the surface of the walls fairly uniform.

"Well, this is unfortunate," Lucky said, inhaling deeply. "Didn't think our kidnapper would play us like this."

"There can't not be one," Robin sighed. "How long has it been?"

"Less than 90 seconds," Lucky replied.

"We know _that_ , genius," Leo called. "Don't fall behind, you two." With that, he picked up the pace, rounding a bend and disappearing from view.

"Well, shit," Robin groaned. Physical exertion was hardly his area of expertise, and from the look on Lucky's face, they weren't pleased either. Their watches beeped on, driving up their heart rates further as they trailed behind Leo.

He seemed to be about halfway down another long hall, which Robin spent no time analyzing for unlocked doors, before he shouted. "There! It's at the end!" Somehow, he found himself even further invigorated, since his speed rocketed up again.

"Christ," Lucky muttered. Alas, by the end of the next minute, all three had registered at the DEAD and freed themselves from the fear of penalty. After allowing everyone a minute to catch their breath, Lucky finally spoke again. "Let's see if any of these doors are open."

The first thing Robin noticed was a large steel wall placed at the mouth of a hall perpendicular to the one they had just run down. Unlike those seen during the first round, though, this one looked completely smooth and steadfast. "I doubt we'll be finding a way to open this thing," Leo sighed.

"Then we must not be meant to go this way," Robin replied. "I suppose we passed a lot of rooms on our jog down here, huh?"

"Most likely," Leo agreed. "But if it's anything like Floor 0, then most of them are locked classrooms that don't matter for this game."

Opposite to the steel wall was the rest of the perpendicular hallway, which went for only a few yards before reaching another wall. "This must be the edge of the school. Think we can break through and get the hell out of here?" Lucky asked.

"I doubt it," Leo groaned, knocking on the wall and hearing no distinguishable sound. "It's probably solid brick, maybe even a few layers thick. Our kidnapper isn't about to let us off that easy." With a sigh, he shuffled towards a set of double doors. They were the only doors in the small stretch of perpendicular hallway open to them, situated near the corner. Leo took hold of the handles and turned them, throwing the door open.

"Well, that went better than expected," Lucky cheered.

"This must be the next puzzle," Leo said, holding the door open for the other two. "It's the auditorium."

"Kind of a weird place for it," Robin sighed. "Who designed this school?"

"I'm willing to bet we won't be searching any more of the ordinary classrooms," Lucky continued. "Probably why our kidnapper had us run past all of them." As they passed through the door, they let it fall closed. The auditorium around them cooled with the faint light, predominantly emanating from the stage. They had entered in the back, it seemed, and there were several rows of seats before them. "Be careful," Lucky exhaled. "I don't want to be looking for bandages if one of you eats shit."

"Rude." Robin's response earned him a quick laugh from Lucky, who lead the way down the left aisle. At the end, he looked around, a bit confused. "Isn't there usually an emergency exit door at the front of this kinda room?"

"Yeah, bro, it's here," Leo said, down the short aisle parallel to the stage. After another second, he spoke again. "But it's locked tight. I don't see any locks on it though, so I guess we aren't supposed to go out this way."

"Let's check the other side of the room," Lucky followed, leading the way down the stagefront aisle. There was another door on the right side of the room, and Lucky threw their hands against it. "This one moves. And I think there's a weird keyhole here."

"That's got to be the exit, then," Robin agreed.

"Here we go again," Leo sighed.

(Suggested listening: Quinary Game)

Pleased to be in better lighting near the stage, Robin first looked in his immediate vicinity, starting with the rows of seats the group had just passed. "There sure are a lot of chairs here, huh," he said.

"Yeah," Leo said. "Kinda weird that all the seats are down instead of up."

"Maybe they're just poorly designed," Robin said, "unless it's some part of this puzzle."

"Has anything our kidnapper's done so far been without purpose?" Lucky added. "Look, each seatback has a little plaque on it. This one says… A10." The small, brass plaque was quite simple and unobtrusive, just large enough to be legible from right in front of the seat. "And A11 is next to it, so the lettering must be by row."

Leo and Robin diverged from the seat to count the number of rows and columns. A quick glance at the seat nearest the left side of the room revealed there had to be 50 seats in each row, with aisles separating seats 9 and 10 and seats 41 and 42. "The last row back here is Z," Leo called. "So that's 1,300 seats." Robin had to admit that didn't seem like nearly as many as he was expecting for a school that was this large, especially considering how oppressive the dimness had initially felt. Alas, perhaps a school this fancy would probably have more than one auditorium.

"In any case, I don't see anything terribly interesting down here," Lucky noted as the other two returned. "Perhaps we'll have more luck on stage." With that, Leo hoisted himself quickly up on stage. He extended a hand down to Robin, who graciously accepted the help in spite of the awkward transition. When he turned around, though, he noticed that Lucky was gone.

"Where the hell…" he muttered.

"Behind you," Lucky's voice came. "If you had been a little more attentive, you may have noticed the stairs beside where the emergency exits should be." Robin gave them a firm smirk before walking past them to the side of the stage, where he spotted an unusually large podium.

"Are they usually this… wide?" he asked. As he approached it, he noticed a series of marks on its surface. There was a row of thirteen circular indentations, which appeared as though they could each be filled by a large coin. The row was followed by a square button, similar in size but protruding outwards. With an internal shrug, Robin gave the button a push, although he didn't notice any effects. "Guess we have to put something in these indents first."

Robin's attention turned next to the back wall of the stage, which appeared to have been painted white and overlaid with a complex pattern of multicolored spots. None of the colors seemed to be cohesive into specific images, however. "That's gonna be an interesting problem to solve," Robin sighed.

"Topaz, over here," Leo called. "Lucky thinks they can play the piano."

"Lucky knows they can play the piano," Lucky replied, stretching their arms and clearing their throat. As the other two walked up beside them, they began to play. A delightful tune of several notes rang out across the room before Lucky stopped, their hands hovering over the keys. "Hmm, no effect. Well, this piano works just fine, so we're not gonna have to figure out which keys are which or something like that."

After the others were satisfied with the initial investigation of the piano, Robin directed their attention to the back wall. "Do you think there's any chance we could figure out what picture that's supposed to be just by looking at the colors?"

"Well, there's all sorts of reds, greens, blues, pinks…" Lucky started. "It's all a bit too random. I can't make heads or tails of it."

"Same here," Leo grunted. "We'll have to come back to all of this later."

On the side of the back wall away from the podium and piano, there was a simple metal box. Although it retained a grey color, it almost seemed to have been painted. "It must be the breaker panel," Lucky stated, approaching it. "Oh, look. There's a tiny little keypad on here." As the other two inched closer, they tapped on the side of the box, apparently testing a random combination in the pad. After four beeps, Lucky stopped and frowned. "Well, it looks like we only need a four-digit combination."

"There's a door over here, too," Leo noticed. "It's pretty out of the way, so I bet it's not actually the exit or something."

"Yeah," Robin agreed. "It's probably just a storage room for stage stuff."

"If that's the case, it can't be very big. The room ends not far after this wall," Lucky added. "What sort of key are we looking for?"

"Hang on now," Robin interrupted. "It might be unlocked." With an air of coolness, he grabbed hold of the handle and depressed the lever. Alas, it refused to move all the way.

"At this point, I assume every door is locked," Lucky said, sounding less condescending than Robin had been expecting.

"This one probably just needs a standard key," Robin sighed. "But the keyhole looks kind of small."

Although the trio spent another minute or so wandering around the stage, they had exhausted their productive search of the area and so climbed back down. As they began to circle the central section of seats, Robin's eyes landed on the wall beside the stage. Upon it at roughly eye level was a simple switch. "Hey, maybe we can finally get some light in here," he stated, a bit of cheer on his voice. Lucky and Leo gave him slight nods, and with that, he flipped the switch on.

A quiet, smooth noise filled their ears, an electric or mechanical hum from the ceiling of the stage. Robin associated it quickly with the movement of the curtains, which he noticed had begun to close. Although he had rather been hoping for an easier time seeing, it became clear that, at least, this portion of the puzzle would not be too terribly difficult, as there were a few characters written on the curtain in glowing ink.

"I guess this room's low light conditions were an important part of designing this puzzle," Leo mused. "There's two things written up there. It says "R+G" in the bottom left and "1691" in the top right."

"We'll have to add "R+G" to the list of things to get back to later, since I bet I know what we need the number 1691 for," Lucky said, waggling their eyebrows. They made their way over to Robin, flipping the switch again to reopen access to the stage. As the curtains hummed, Robin retrieved his notebook, writing the messages on a fresh page.

When he looked up, however, Lucky had already departed. Robin sighed, not bothering to follow them to the set of stairs and instead hoisting himself on stage. By the time he returned to the back wall, Lucky had already entered the four digit combination, earning themself an airy chirp from the keypad. The door slowly swung open, revealing none of the switches that Robin had been expecting.

"Is this even a real breaker panel?" he asked.

Lucky shrugged. "Maybe. I guess our kidnapper blocked it so we wouldn't actually have a chance to mess with any of the electronics in the place. But he did leave us a nice puzzle here." They shifted out of Robin's line of sight, showing that the bottom of the interior housed a simple fifteen puzzle. "This slidy sort of thing isn't exactly my area of expertise. Want to take a crack at it?"

Leo approached the two then, but he stayed far enough back to let Robin take the lead on solving the puzzle. Thus, Robin nodded once, moving towards the panel. "I guess one of us will have to figure it out eventually." Before he began, he looked at the inside of the panel's door, noticing three blocky characters written in it. "I guess this is the model number. It must be… 5E3? Or SE3?"

"Kind of hard to tell when they use the shitty electronic font," Lucky concurred. Leo glanced down at his watch, the [5] on his display looking much like that on the door.

After another couple of minutes, Robin had navigated each of the numbered tiles into proper order. A solitary LED lit up, and the group heard another humming noise from beside them. A panel of the wall had opened up, revealing a staircase. "Looks like we're going up," Lucky said.

"Up?" Robin asked. "Where the hell could we be going?"

"It's probably to a little room where they control the lights and sound, all that stuff," Lucky stated. "Although why they'd have a single door to it back here is beyond me."

"It's probably not the only way to get there," Leo said. "But I'm willing to bet it's the only one the kidnapper made available."

"Yes, he does seem to like these puzzles that give us only one course of action," Lucky agreed. "I hope he's enjoying his time controlling us like lab rats. When it's over, I'm quite sure I'll be ready to make him very unhappy." With that, Lucky began to ascend the corridor, leaving Robin to offer Leo a disquieted look.

The stairwell was even darker than the rest of the auditorium, and although Lucky wasted no time ascending it, Robin and Leo weren't as quick to move. "This is weird, right?" Leo asked.

"I wouldn't know," Robin admitted. "I've never really spent time in any of my school's auditoria. But I doubt this building is any indicator of most schools."

"Hey, do you two want to hurry up?" Lucky's words echoed down the corridor, earning two sighs as a reply. However, it was successful in getting them to reach the upper level, which Robin was surprised to see was primarily occupied by control panels. One large interface facing the front of the area was alight with all manner of switches and buttons. A couple of chairs sat behind it, overlooking the rest of the auditorium down below.

"Whoa," Robin mumbled.

Lucky nodded a few times, allowing the others to take the sight in. "Kind of a weird layout for such a small area, but… Like I thought, this is definitely where the stage crew would go to mess with the lights, speakers, and anything else they needed. I don't even know what the hell all of these controls could be for, unless we're looking at a very nuanced system of lights."

"I guess it's not too hard to consider," Leo added. "Like, if you're doing a play, there's gotta be like twenty different people with microphones on, right?" This seemed to satisfy Lucky, who turned back to inspecting the machinery.

"There isn't much room up here for anything else," Robin noted. "It makes me wonder why they bothered with the secret staircase in the back."

"Wait," Lucky interrupted, pointing to the back of the room. "Looks like that wasn't the only staircase." They pushed open a door, then raising their eyebrows. "I'll go down and see where this one comes out, if you two want to look around for anything exciting up here."

Leo trudged up to the main control interface, rubbing his hands together absentmindedly as his eyes traced over the columns of switches. "Well, worst thing that could happen is we turn off all the light or something." With no further justification, he pulled one from its position at the bottom of a slider up to the top.

"...I don't believe anything's happened," Robin stated.

"I see," Leo agreed. "Then maybe the worst thing that could happen is we waste our damn time." He gave a half-hearted attempt at a chuckle. "But there probably is at least one of these controls we can actually use, right? Or else it'd be pointless to let us up here."

Robin nodded a few times, lazily, giving the control panel a hearty once-over. "Eh… which ones do you think actually work?"

Leo gave the matter a serious bit of consideration before his finger shot up. "These two keypads here look pretty promising. Besides, they're the only ones that aren't simple buttons and sliders. At least, I think they are." Robin glanced down at two rectangular areas that were bordered with simple white lines. Each was roughly the size of his splayed hand and filled with rows of keys.

"So we have all the numbers and letters of the alphabet," he noticed.

"Yeah, and at the top here is a little LED display. It's got three spaces, so maybe we need three characters."

"Oh! The seat designations," Robin cheered. "They're one letter and two numbers, right?"

"So I guess the crew guy enters a certain seat and then…" Leo let his sentence fade out as he keyed "A01" into the left keypad. From the ceiling above them, something whirred, and in a manner of seconds, a light was shining straight down at the seats below them.

"Well, look at that." Lucky's voice behind Robin surprised him a bit, but he maintained his composure as he glanced down over the interface. The spotlight on the ceiling had focused down on one seat in particular, in the front corner of the room.

"That's seat A01 alright," Leo said. "Then that means we can focus two spotlights on whatever seats we want."

"How do you think we get it to turn back off?" Robin asked. Leo offered him a shrug, then tapping "AAA" on the keypad. The three characters flashed in red once, clearly being an invalid combination. A few seconds later, the light dimmed to darkness and began maneuvering back to its starting place. "Alright," Robin sighed, "that was a little _too_ lucky."

"Hey, look back here," Lucky said, "We've got sticky notes." Robin could hear the sound of Lucky pulling the note from wherever it had been stuck, followed by their footsteps. "Q02," they read.

"Well, that's a pretty obvious hint, I'd say," Robin stated. Thus, he typed the three characters into the keypad before him, and the spotlight came to life.

"We should head down there and see if moving the light there did something," Leo said, heading for the stairwell.

"Hold on just a moment," Lucky interjected.


End file.
